


[DISCONTINUED/REWRITING] Hallowed be Her Name

by N7Biotic223



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Childhood Trauma, Complicated Relationships, Cunnilingus, Deputy is Sleep Deprived, Doggy Style, Emotional Roller Coaster, Eventual Smut, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Needs A Hug, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Faith Seed is Dead, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Forehead Touching, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jacob is a Asshole, John is a Mess, Knifeplay, Major Character Injury, Mental Health Issues, Mildly Dubious Consent, Multi, Murder-Suicide, Neck Kissing, Nightmares, Non-Consensual Touching, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyseed (Far Cry), Possessive Joseph, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Religious Content, Religious Cults, Rope Bondage, Rough Sex, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Spanking, This doesn't excuse anything the Seeds have done, Toxic Relationships, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:14:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 62,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22759117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N7Biotic223/pseuds/N7Biotic223
Summary: After learning of Faith's death at the hands of the Deputy, the remaining Seed family are more determined than ever to capture the Deputy and make her face her sins and personal demons for taking their adopted sister from them. However, Joseph starts receiving visions from God telling him that she will return what she took from them and perhaps, even more.This fic is no longer going to be worked on in favor of a rewrite that is going to be changing this version of the story so much it's not really worth going back on this one to pull it off. It will be published under my author name still, but going by a different name.
Relationships: Female Deputy | Judge/Jacob Seed, Female Deputy | Judge/John Seed, Female Deputy | Judge/Joseph Seed
Comments: 45
Kudos: 146





	1. Bliss Dream

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is going to be a little slow at first, but once it gets going, it's going to be a ride. I hope you enjoy! Shout out to XxAngelicMurderxX for helping me to make this happen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Murder Suicide
> 
> Starts at: She watched helplessly as Faith’s hand touched Burke’s...
> 
> Ends at: Abigail sighed softly, forcing herself to shake the memory away...

A brilliant flash of light blinded her, her head throbbing, her body sore and aching. Exhaustion was taking its toll; even the slightest gust of wind could put her on the ground. A voice spoke up in her haze, one that she knew well. The sound of it, despite its natural sweetness, made her ears ring. Everything was so loud. Her head ached even more with each word the voice spoke, but she listened nonetheless as her vision finally started to clear.

“You still don’t understand. You don’t know what it is you’re doing do you?”

The image of a young bloodied faced woman slowly drew itself in her sight. Her lightly brown hair was still neatly brushed while her dress was still perfectly white. Pink flowers and green leaves that looked like they grew from the dress itself lined the skirt of her dress. Her eyes used to look so calm and happy, but now all she saw was pain, anger, and fear. The green hue of the world around them slowly returned to her sight along with the little balls of light that floated aimlessly around them. Behind the woman was a river and they were surrounded by trees. They were in the heart of the Bliss Forest, a place usually beautiful and peaceful, but with radiated sinister vibes. Despite how beautiful the world around them was, it was a dangerous place and the bloodied woman before her was the queen of this world.

The woman tried to take a step towards her, but she instinctively took a step back, attempting to keep the distance between them. That one move was enough to make something else grow in the woman's eyes: hurt. The fear she reflected also grew more intense as a breath left her soft lips.

“Joseph believes he’s our savior.” The bloodied woman continued, “But you’ll be the one who decides what happens. You were the start. You’ll be the end.”

Just before she stopped speaking again, Faith reached for the Deputy and tried to take another step towards her. Again, Deputy instinctively stepped backwards, even more on guard than the last one had been. Faith stared at her, realizing the Deputy would never let her get close, and slowly lowered her hand defeated. Faith was quiet for a moment, just staring at the person who had taken her empire from her. All Deputy could do was just stare back, staring at the woman who stole her friends from her. Faith wasn’t the first to say something like this to her, but she remained silent all the same as pain and slight confusion ravaged her mind and body.

“It was always gonna happen this way…” Faith finally added after what felt like an eternity of silence between them.

Faith finally took her gaze off the Deputy to look at the river behind her and slowly turned towards it. As she started to walk towards it, barely able to lift one foot over the other, Faith continued to speak.

“You’ll walk the path.” She giggled, slowly walking further and further into the lake, “You’ll rescue your Sheriff. You’ll be the Hero.”

Faith walked until water was up to her thighs and turned to look at the Deputy once more. “And then…you’ll choose.”

She fell backwards into the water gently, simply floating now almost lifelessly. Then, she spoke her final words, “And if you don’t listen to him…he’ll be right.”

A bliss fog lifted itself from her body, making its way towards the Deputy before going to a bliss flower waited patiently by her feet. Faith, seemingly having no life left in her body, simply floated on the river’s surface. Seeing Faith finally dead was cathartic after all she's done, but deep down she knew that things were only going to get worse now that Faith Seed was gone. The Deputy reached down and picked the white flower from the ground before turning and stepping into the thick fog behind her, leaving the Bliss and a finally dead Faith behind her.

______________________________________________

Abigail’s eyes opened suddenly, a gasp leaving her lips as she woke from her sleep. She looked around a bit frantically before realizing where she was. She was safe in the Hope County Jail. Back in the bed she usually found herself in while coming down from the Bliss high that Faith liked to use on her for one of their “talks”. This time though, it wasn’t a high she was coming down from, it was a nightmare.

It’s been a couple days since she’s killed Faith, but she’s still plagued by nightmares of the memory. She thought she was done seeing Faith’s face, but it seemed like Faith continued to haunt her. Abigail hated that memory. It left her feeling…regretful and she hated feeling regretful for any of the Seed family. Faith was a master manipulator who used drugs to make those who resisted the cult into drug addicted zombies she called her “Angels”. She by no means was she anyone worthy of her regret, but there was just something in Faith’s eyes that day that…hurt her. Faith didn’t look like the master manipulator and upbeat woman who constantly tried to turn her into another one of her angels. She looked…lost and scared, less like a monster and more like a little girl. It made Abigail wonder, just a tiny bit, what would have happened if she took Faith’s hand. She shook her head. No, Faith was just trying to get her one last time. Faith was very good at making people feel sorry for her and Abigail couldn’t let herself be one of those people, especially after what she did. Not that it mattered much anymore. Faith is gone and Abigail was still standing, ready to take down the rest of her fucked up family and got revenge for the people she took from them.

In a way, Abigail was thankful that her nightmares mostly focused on Faith’s death. There were worse things that could repeatedly show up in her dreams. She thought of Marshal Burke and felt a chill run down her spine. She’ll never forget the anger Faith had when she pulled her into the bliss. Faith wasn’t a strong looking girl, but the way she shoved her that trip nearly made her fall if it wasn’t for her footing managing to keep her standing. Her arm burned in the memory of Faith’s tight grip as she grabbed the junior deputy’s arm and took her to see Burke and Virgil playing cards. Virgil…he was a good man. He wasn’t a favorite around the jail, but he had a good heart. To this day, Abigail had the cougar button he gave her when they met clipped to her vest. She still remembered in perfect detail how Burke actually seemed happy in that moment, finally out of the bliss and thinking clearly again. That was when Faith showed her just how much power she still had over Burke. She watched helplessly as Faith’s hand touched Burke’s and guiding it down to the gun at his hip. His lips started to speak the words that Faith spoke onto her. The look of fear in Virgil’s eyes as Burke pulled his gun out just before pulling the trigger and shooting the poor old man. Abigail felt so much fear, anger, and sorrow in that moment, but it wasn’t what made her hate Faith. She made Burke open the jail’s gates and, in pure horror, Abigail watched as the Marshal pulled the gun on himself and pulled the trigger.

Abigail sighed softly, forcing herself to shake the memory away before she worked herself up revisiting it. She needed to get moving; really bad memories always come back when she starts thinking too much. Besides, there was still plenty more she needed to do. After all, there were still three Seed brothers to deal with. Slowly, she pulling herself up off the bed, and rubbing the side of her head. Her light brown hair was a mess and she rubbed one of her tired blue eyes. Luckily, she didn’t have to dress herself after getting into the habit of just sleeping in whatever she had on, boots included. She didn’t have the luxury of getting comfortable every time she wanted to get some sleep. With the Seeds being so unpredictable, she had to be ready for action at any moment, so she just slept wherever she could in whatever she was in. Abigail still had her junior deputy uniform on ever since they tried to handcuff Joseph Seed himself and a crazed follower threw himself into the helicopter blades. Despite her time here, her junior deputy uniform was just a little bit more worn in and a bit dirty, but still wearable without making her look too unkempt.

It’s kind of funny though. She hadn’t worn this uniform for long after transferring to the Montana for the Hope County Sheriff’s Department and the first thing they asked her to do was help investigate a cult called Eden’s Gate. She’s been in the area for barely a couple hours and they wanted help investigating a damn cult and now here she was. Part of her wished she never put Joseph in handcuffs. Things might have been easier if she just walked away, but she just couldn’t. She was looking into the eyes of a monster and it was impossible for her to walk away without him in her custody. There was no telling what more Joseph could of done if she didn't try to put a stop to it right then and there. The National Guard could of handled it, but there was no telling what the Father would of done while they were on the way. It didn't matter anymore though. What’s done is done and she wasn’t going to back down on the decision she made, even if it did end her up in this mess.

“Oh shit!” She exclaimed after almost tripping over a big mass of tan fur curled up by the bed, “Sorry Peaches forgot you were there.”

Peaches rose her head up with barely opened, tired, and slightly irritated eyes. The mountain cat let out a low growl at her for disturbing her nap, but after a quick pet, she ultimately rubbed her head against Abigail’s leg with a soft purr. Abigail crouched down to rub the big cat’s head a little before Peaches started to pull herself up and stretch. She couldn’t stop the chuckle that came out as she watched this killing machine behaving like any old house cat. Never in her life did Abigail think she would be shooting cultists with a cougar by her side, especially one that was affectionate towards her as Peaches was. She bonded pretty quickly with the big cat. Abigail has to remind herself sometimes though that Peaches wasn’t a house cat. Peaches was still a wild animal and demanded respect as such, but luckily she gets reminded of it every time she watches Peaches pounce on a unsuspecting cultists and ripping his throat out.

Before heading out, Abigail loaded her guns back on her person along with any other supplies she had before making her way down the hall where the woman who ran the shop usually was. Peaches walked beside her with a proud and powerful stride that reflected the nobility most cats believed they naturally possessed. Just before heading out, Abigail stopped by the shopkeeper and filled up on ammo and any supplies she thought she might need for the trip. The deputy always made sure to stock up on anything and everything she might need in order to be prepared for anything while out in cultists’ territory. The cult was unpredictable, so Abby needed to be prepared for anything at all time. 

Once she was satisfied, Abigail went on to step outside and was greeted with the sight of Sheriff Whitehorse talking to fellow resistance members. Even though Faith was gone, there was still plenty for the resistance to do. There were plenty of properties to defend and with the possibility of Jacob or John attempting to take back what the Resistance took, there was no time to relax and celebrate Faith’s fall for more than a single night.

She went ahead and made her way towards Whitehorse just as he seemed to be wrapping what his conversation with the group. Just as she reached him, Earl turned away just enough as his group disbursed and caught of glimpse of the woman and her cat walking his way.

“Morning, Rook, any more of those nightmares?” The older man asked her with a voice that reminded her of a concerned father.

“Yeah, but I’m fine. I slept enough. Besides, I could be having worse nightmares.” She lied a little, letting out a little chuckle to try to come off better than she was. Abby hadn't had a good nights sleep since she killed Faith, but Earl didn't need to know that. 

Whitehorse had a lot to deal with on his own. The last thing she wanted to do was to make him worry. Even if she didn’t convince him that she was fine, he wouldn’t force it out of her to tell the truth either. He cared deeply for his people, but he wouldn’t force them to talk about anything they didn’t want to. Earl had his own issues and battles to deal with; adding onto it with her problems wasn’t something he needed. Hell, after seeing him almost hang himself from Faith’s influences, she became terrified of getting him much more involved in her business. He was a older man who really should of retired sooner and part of her was scared for him. He was tough, but his age was starting to catch up to him. For now, he just needed to focus on keeping things going here. She wasn’t really scared to leave him behind, there were plenty of people here that would help keep an eyes on him. They could still talk through their radios and it wasn’t like she was leaving him without help. There are plenty of good people here to help out and Tracey was here too to help him run things. The scariest thing about leaving was the fact she was leaving a place she’d grown comfortable with to head into a new place with a new beast she knew little about.

“True…” Earl finally replied, looking unconvinced, but accepting her answer for now, “I know Faith did some really messed up things to your head. Just know if you need to talk, I’m always there to listen. She didn’t mess with me as much as she did with you, but I understand enough how hard it is to get passed it.”

Damn it. Why did he have to sound so much like her father? Sheriff Whitehorse was a kind, but strong man and he knew exactly how to talk to her. Sometimes she hated it, but most of the time, she needed it. Abigail was tempted to be more honest to him, but stopped herself for now at least. Even if she did want to talk, she really needed to hit the road soon. The sooner she took this whole fucked up family out, the better. They would have all the time in the world to talk then and she couldn’t let the Seeds relax for too long or else it would give them enough of a chance to strike back.

“Thanks Sheriff…I’ll keep that in mind. I better get going though, gotta start kicking John’s ass now.” She smiled confidently.

Earl returned the smile and chuckled, patting her on the back as he started to walk with her to a car that was prepared for her. “Give him hell for us Abby, but be careful. John’s a whole ‘nother beast. He’s ain't afraid of getting his hands dirty. He messes with your head like Faith, but he doesn’t mind throwing torture into the mix either.”

“Yikes…sounds like a fun guy.” She replied with humor, but the weariness in her voice was clear as she opened up the driver’s side of the car.

As soon as she opened the door, Peaches didn’t hesitate to jump in the car. The cougar moved to the backseat, knowing exactly what to do and laid down, letting her body take up the entire backseat, waiting for Abby.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it Rook, with your luck and that monster with ya. You’ll raise hell and take John down in no time.” Earl looked at her with proud and confident eyes. “Go get ‘em kid.”

Abby smiled sweetly at Earl and gave a confident nod as she hopped into the car, “You got it Sheriff.”

She shut the door to the car and turned the keys, letting the engine roar. Earl gave her a wave off as he started to back away to return to the jail. Abby returned the gesture and started to drive off. A soft sigh left her lips, taking a breath as she drove through the Henbane River region. If John was really as bad as Whitehorse said he was, than he might be a harder challenge to deal with than Faith was. Whatever the case was, she wasn’t going to underestimate him. The worst thing she could do was brush off any of the Seed family members. As she crossed into Holland Valley, she steeled her nerves and prepared herself for the worst.


	2. Family Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a shorter chapter that's a bit more set up, but it'll pick up soon! I hope you enjoy it regardless!

The Montana wilderness flew by him in a gentle blur. A cigarette burned between his lips. Joseph would kill him if he ever saw John smoking, but in times like this, he needed to have one. His people are too scared of him to say anything to Joseph and he liked it that way. John was devoted to Joseph and his cause, but sometimes he just needed something to relax and after the shit storm the junior deputy threw their way, this wasn’t going to be the last cigarette he smoked behind Joseph’s back.

Faith’s death was going to throw a wrench in their plans. Everything was going so well too. John almost had every piece of property in the county when the deputy came in and undid all his hard work in the Henbane River area. However, it won’t be hard to get it back. They just needed to take a moment to regroup and rethink their strategy. The Deputy is nothing more than a temporary setback. No matter which way she ends up going next, either Jacob would take her out or he'd have that pleasure himself. Though, John wouldn’t deny that he hoped she came to him next. He would be delighted to help the deputy see the light and repent for her sins. After all, he was The Baptist, seems fair that she would come to him in order to properly start her journey to salvation and confess to all her sins to him. He couldn't wait to draw out all her demons and make her wear all of her wrongdoings. 

John finished his cigarette, knowing they would reach Joseph’s compound soon. He wasn’t looking forward to this meeting. While John wasn’t close to Faith, Joseph took the murder of any of his heralds personally, even if they weren’t blood related to them. He learned quickly to not get attached to any new Faith that comes around. They never really lasted long for one reason or another. This one was the longest they had and she’ll most likely be the last given the Collapse was upon them soon according to The Father. No matter, they truly didn't need another Faith, but if the Father deemed it necessary than he'll have to add keeping an eye out for potential candidates on to his to do list. 

If Joseph wasn’t going to be bad enough on his own, the eldest of the remaining three would be there too. Jacob used to be a good older brother to the younger Seed brothers. John was very young compared to Joseph and Jacob who were already older kids when he was born. Jacob was almost an adult and Joseph was a couple years into his teens when he came around, but he liked to think it was a blessing in disguise that John was born then. Their father was cruel and their mother a ghost of her former self, having two older brothers taking care of him made his infancy and toddler years just a little more bearable. There wasn’t a lot he remembered those years, but there was enough to paint a picture of what his younger years were like. He remembered pain, the sound of his cries, the sound of his older brother and father almost killing each other. He remembered Joseph holding him as the brothers got into a car and seeing his birth parents being taken away by the police. He also remembered fire and blood while the screams of a woman and the cries of animals added to the symphony of chaos, but that was a long time ago and to think things would only get worse.

Jacob would be a fantastic man to idolize for his selflessness and bravery he had to have to protect his younger brothers, but the horrors of war changed him into something nearly unrecognizable. When they reunited, Jacob reminded him little of the brother he remembered. Jacob brought back demons with him and those demons were cunning. Joseph might look at the two of his brothers and point to John as the more troubled or lost brother, but John knew what kind of game Jacob was playing. Jacob was an expert at hiding his true desires and intentions almost as good as John was. John will admit, his older brother might have better grip on his rage than he does, but he blamed military training for that. Jacob was just as lost as he was, but also just as loyal to their middle brother as he was. John loved the Jacob he remembered, the one who often stood beside him now made him weary, but they needed each other and he was his family.

That was something Faith could never truly be. She was never blood, barely even family. The only thing that made her useful was her past as a drug addict. Her bearing a pretty face with a soft voice and an extensive knowledge of drugs made her useful to influence the more stubborn sinners that had a weakness to a drug like Bliss. Though, Jacob could do her job well enough his own way. Faith’s death was more inconvenient than tragic for John. The two of them barely talked and as a result, John never saw her as family, just another big player in the game that was recently taken off the board. Now there was a huge amount of territory that gave the Resistance a foothold against their cause, but John didn’t expect them to keep it for long.

John’s thoughts were interrupted when he realized they were entering Joseph’s compound. He only just realized how silent he had been the whole ride. The only thing keeping the ride from being completely silent was the faint sound of religious music being played from the radio. His driver was one of his many followers and he rarely spoke unless John spoke to him directly and he liked it like that. He had a lot of planning to do on top of what he was already cooking up to snatch up the last of the territory they needed. The last thing he needed was a chatty follower breaking his thoughts. Joseph was the one who could deal with that. After all, he had all the time in the world while he waits for The Collapse in his church trying to talk to the Voice for guidance while his brothers did the hard work.

The sound of wild, barking dogs jumping up on chain link fences along with the same gospel music that played on the radio playing on the compound’s speakers interrupted his peace as usual for his visits to his brother. It got annoying listening to the same couple songs while dealing with Eden's Gate business, but the followers loved it and that was enough to keep them playing them over and over again. The car slowly came to a stop near the church. Followers quickly getting out of the way, knowing exactly whose car was driving up despite not supporting the usually colors and look Eden’s Gate vehicles tended to possess. When the car came to a full stop, John opened the car door and stepped out seeing Joseph's followers looking onto him with admiration and awe.

A audible sigh left his lips as he readjusted his vest and made sure his sleeves were pulled down to his elbows. He was use to wearing suits by this point, but he didn’t want to ruin his expensive suits with Eden’s Gate business unless it was dealing with something that required his training as a lawyer. However, that doesn’t mean he didn’t make himself look nice either in a more casual sense. Out of all of his brothers, John cared about his appearance the most. One thing he learned about being a lawyer, appearance mattered more than expected, it made him approachable and that was key to getting people to talk. Feeling content with his appearance, John walked towards the church his brother held himself in and prepared himself for whatever might be waiting for him behind its doors.

The church itself wasn’t very large, but it was an improvement from the tent and abandoned meat factories they use to give their sermons in. It was enough to house a decent crowd, but naturally with how big their following was, not everyone could be housed here for Sunday sermons. On Sundays when Joseph would come out and speak to his entire following, they would broadcast his sermons through the radios that would play on the speakers of every property their family owned. If housing wasn’t an issue enough, they were getting a lot of enemies and it would be foolish to abandon their properties to be taken by the Resistance while their followers praised The Father.

Birdcages hung on the ceiling, faintly squeaking as they ever so slightly moved from the little bit of wind that made its way into the old and worn down church. Pews consumed most of the space when one first walked in with only an aisle big enough for at least two people to walk side by side down cutting between them. This was the very same aisle that the troublemaker walked on. He remembered standing beside his brothers and Faith when they arrived. An older Sheriff with a US Marshall walked through those front doors in the middle of one of Joseph’s nightly sermons. Behind them was a pretty little thing, fresh, new, and yet the harbinger of destruction. He remembered the way Joseph looked upon the Deputy. There was a knowing look in his gaze as though he expected this exact woman to come to them, yet there was also excitement. As he held his hands out to the Deputy, offering himself to her to decide their fates, he looked at her with a gaze that reminded John of a particular sin that was etched into his skin just above where his belt laid. John and the others weren’t unfazed by the sight of seeing their brother being handcuffed and escorted out. He foretold of their arrival and that there was a chance of this, but whatever ended up happening, “God wouldn’t let them take him”, and he was, unsurprisingly, right.

As expected, Joseph paced slowly where he’s usually seen giving his sermons to his people. The sound of heavy boots walking over creaking wood was a sound John grew to expect when his brother was thinking. His book was in his hands, reading the lines for the hundredth, if not thousandth, time. Joseph knew every word in that book, but John noticed he often revisited it again and again when he needed to see what he knew written before him to guide him. Something about seeing it written down just helped him and if it helped him then that was all that mattered.

It took a moment for Joseph to notice his brother waiting patiently for him. John never interrupted Joseph’s thoughts by announcing himself. He didn't like it when people did it to him and he didn't want to interrupt Joseph's thoughts especially if they were about how to take care of their little problem. Besides, he never had to wait long before he was noticed. A whirlwind of emotions were in Joseph’s steel blue eyes behind his yellow tinted aviators, but happiness became one of them when his younger brother’s presence was noticed. Joseph closed his book and placed it down, walking towards his brother with open arms.

“John…” Joseph spoke appreciatively, “Thank you for coming to me in this dark time.”

Joseph touched John’s shoulders, holding them and squeezing them as John replied with practiced lines, “Of course. This is a tragic time for our family and everyone mourns for the loss of our sister.”

John closed his eyes as his brother brought his forehead towards him, meeting him halfway for their foreheads to touch. This was Joseph’s way of showing affection to his heralds and it was one of the few affectionate gestures ever shown to him by anyone. It was how he knew Joseph cared for him, even if he often disagreed with John’s actions sometimes. When their foreheads finally separated, Joseph gave John’s shoulders one last squeeze before releasing them.

“A snake has taken our sister from us…but we will survive and we will make those responsible suffer their sins.” Joseph spoke, a hint of anger showing itself in his usually cool and calm voice as he turned away from John to walk to his usual spot.

Just then, the church doors opened once again, causing the two brothers to look to see who came inside. John felt his stomach tighten as he watched a large man stepped inside, one he knew well. He looked more like their father than the other Seed brothers did, but Jacob was still twice the man their father would ever be. While Joseph and John were roughly the same size, Jacob was bigger than them rather it due to his military training or his genes primarily coming from their father. Perhaps, it was another reason John was hesitant around Jacob these days. His memory of their father was fuzzy, but there was enough there to see that Jacob shared a lot of his looks with him. His massive military boots made the wood creak even worse than Joseph’s did as he stepped inside, the church doors shutting behind him as his followers close them to leave the three brothers to discuss things privately.

“John…” Jacob grinning menacingly while Joseph still had his back mostly turned to them, “Glad to see you here. Didn’t think you’d come.” John narrowed his eyes a little at his older brother. Jacob knew John didn’t particularly care about Faith, but he didn’t make it easy to read either. Jacob himself didn’t even really care for Faith either, mostly just seeing her as something useful more than family. That was one of the few things they had in common now days besides sharing the same parents. However, Jacob didn’t actively express this in front of Joseph who may have genuinely cared for her or pretended to like the rest of them did, but neither brother wanted to ask to find out since it ran the risk of upsetting their brother. It was better to play it safe than risk another disapproving look and lecture from the middle brother.

“Of course I would. I have plenty of work ahead of me, but I’d make time to mourn the loss of our sister with my brothers.” John responded as expertly practiced.

Joseph turned to them with his eyes looking at the floor, “It’s a sad time for us all, but my brothers we will make them pay and make the sinners repent for what they’ve done. Their sins are even greater now, so I have faith in you John you’ll see to it they repent now more than ever.” The Father’s eyes met with the youngest brother’s eyes with the last of his words, giving emphasis on what he was asking of John.

“I’ll see to it as soon as I return. My people captured Fall’s End recently and have some sinners they’re holding onto for me to start them on their journey to seeing the light.” He informed him, attempting to give Joseph at least some good news.

“Good…” The Father nodded softly, “Some of my children reported seeing the Deputy heading in your direction as well. I know how enraged we all are about our sister’s murder, but we must control ourselves. If either of you encounter the Deputy, I want her alive. Start her journey, but don’t kill her. I want to save her…”

Jacob and John met their gazes and in that moment, John knew they wondered the same thing. Why would The Father want her alive? They’ve killed people for smaller sins than her with little more than a slap on the wrist and a lecture, but he seemed serious with this one. Neither of them were brave enough to opening ask their brother for his reasoning, but John suspected their curiosity would be satisfied soon enough, but he suspected it had something to do with the Voice. Joseph didn’t keep anything from them for long. Though, it was a curiosity nonetheless.

“If it is your will…” Jacob replied solemnly, no doubt because he was eager to rip apart the Deputy just as much as John did, but now either of them would have that pleasure. However, that didn't mean that they wouldn't have fun with what they were allowed to do. 

“I’ll alert my followers as soon as possible and see if there’s anything I can find out about her. As soon as I get something interesting, I’ll let you both know. The more we know about her, the easier her journey can be.” John replied with a hint of excitement in his voice.

John was always the one they went to when they needed information on someone and he was always eager to show his brothers his worth and resources. With his connections and charms, he can find out anything about anyone. Even if someone was reluctant to help him, all he had to do was threaten them to ruin their careers and home life. In his experience, most people had dirt that they didn't want getting out and John was excellent at finding it out what that dirt was and using it against them making his list of resources nearly endless. It only took a few phone calls and he’d have the Deputy’s entire recorded history in his hands. Regardless if Joseph wanted her alive or dead, John planned on finding out about her anyways. Someone so fresh and inexperienced shouldn’t have made such quick work of Faith. Besides, he would need to study up to get some idea of what to write into her skin when he got his hands on her and how to get her to confess to even more.

“Good…” Joseph simply responded, mostly to himself before turning his attention to his brothers again, “I apologize for not allowing us time to mourn, but we can’t afford to let her do more damage than she’s already caused. Thank you both for coming to see me. I felt it necessary to tell you these things in person along with giving us a moment to mourn for our sister. You two may continue on with your days. God protect and bless you both…I’ll pray for your success and further consult the Voice for guidance.”

Both Jacob and John spoke at the same time, “Thank you Father.”

With that, they knew it was their cue to leave Joseph to his thoughts. John wouldn’t be surprised if he had about a thousand ideas to get back at the Deputy himself. Why he wanted her alive was still a mystery to him at the moment, but Joseph looked like he had something planned for her. As John made his way back to his car, Jacob gave him a look that told him that Jacob didn't trust him to get the job done. He struggled to keep his cool as he watched Jacob tear his eyes away from him to return to his truck where his follower waited for him. He sighed and tried to shake off the bit of rage that grew inside of him. He couldn't let Jacob get to him, especially not now. Jacob may not have faith in him, but John couldn't wait to prove him wrong. He couldn't wait to bring the Deputy back to Joseph all gift wrapped for him for whatever reasons he might want her and prove once and for all that he was just as capable as they were, if not even more so. For now though he needed to focus as he opened the door to his car once more and pulled out his phone, needing to make a couple of calls to find out what exactly they were dealing with. 


	3. Fall's End

“I recommend starting at Fall’s End, kid. There’s a lot of good people there that the cult has in their custody that are gonna get handed off to John soon.” Dutch spoke informatively over her radio.

Dutch called Abigail after getting sight of her crossing into John’s region from one of his many cameras. She wasn’t surprised that he called her so quickly given how vigilant he was. If for whatever reason he didn’t call her, she would have tried to radio him herself. Dutch was a great source of information, especially when it came to the Seeds. When Dutch first rescued her after the helicopter crash, he gave her a brief rundown of the Seeds, but never got the chance to get much into detail. Abigail got a faint idea of who she was dealing with from what The Cougars and Dutch told her, but wanted a clearer picture of how dangerous John Seed was.

“I’ll definitely check it out first then. It’ll give us a good place to get our footing. Back in Henbane River, I took a couple properties back first, but we only really got a good hold on things after we took the jail back.” Abigail replied as she kept one hand on the wheel while her other hand handled the radio. “Is there anything else about John I should know about?”

“Hmm…well he’s the cult’s lawyer. He’s the reason why Eden's Gate has all these properties in their name and why they have the police in their pocket. He has a lot of connections, a lot of money, and knows how to work people. He can learn anything about anyone, so he’s probably digging up what he can about you as we speak. Be careful kid. He can make anyone talk, even you if you’re not careful.” He explained sounding like he was trying to recall anything if might of left out. “He’s gonna pull out all his tricks to try to get you and if he does, it won’t be pretty. Never let your guard down when messing with John.”

This John sounded like trouble. She vaguely remembered that Dutch said he the nickname, “The Baptist”. If was as good at making people talk as Dutch claimed than she could already see why he bore that nickname. Hopefully, if luck was still on her side, she wouldn’t get captured to find out just how true the claims were.

“Alright, thanks Dutch. I’ll check in with you again when I get Fall’s End back.” Abby replied with confidence.

“Sounds good kid, see ya then.” Dutch responded following a click that told her he was done talking.

Abigail took a breath, putting her radio back on her side and looked over to see Peaches relaxing behind her. She couldn’t resist reaching back and giving the cat a soft pet. One benefit of the cult causing chaos was the fact she didn’t have to worry about the traffic laws anymore. With the police basically none existing and the roads nearly abandoned, she didn’t even have to worry about crashing into someone these days, allowing her to give her partner a pet rather safely. Her heart melted when she heard her feline companion start to purr at her touch. She knew Peaches could maul her to death at any time, but it would be the cutest mauling she’s ever been a part of.

The drive wasn’t a long one, but it was a peaceful one much to her surprise. She passed through a lot of wilderness and open fields on her way. In a way, Hope County reminded her of her home town…minus the crazy cultists. If it wasn’t for Joseph and his crazy followers, Abigail could see herself being happy here. She passed by a few properties occupied by the cult that made her wish she had time to stop by and liberate, but she had to focus on making it to Fall’s End. Once she took care of business there, than she could come back and scratch that itch she had to take these farms away from the cult.

Once she saw a town coming up, Abigail stopped the car at a safe distance and checked her map to see if it was indeed Fall’s End. Yep, this was this place and it was probably crawling with cultists. If this town was as important as Dutch implied than she had to be ready for a small army. Peaches lifted her head up as Abigail opened the car door and stepped out before quickly getting up and doing the same. Abby pulled her compact bow from her back and walked the rest of the way. If she took the car than there was a good chance she would get spotted and if people’s lives on the line she didn’t want to risk any innocent people dying. Stealth was usually Abigail’s preferred method of handling things; one of the many reasons Peaches was such a great partner. Peaches was perfect for stealth, but if things got hairy, she was more than capable of hunting down cultists with bullets flying towards her.

When they got close enough, Abigail crouched down, putting her bow away for the moment to pull her binoculars out and pulled them up to her eyes. As expect, she saw cultist everywhere. Some were looking out for trouble on the building’s rooftops and others patrolling the road leading into the town. She couldn’t see any hostages out in the open from where she was, but knowing that there were some there, she kept to her plan. She slipped across the road, jumped over the barbed wired fence that lined the road and walked carefully near the back of one of the buildings with Peaches quickly following behind her, close to the ground. She found a ladder leading up to the rooftop where she spotted a cultist and started to climb it carefully. Before she got too far up, she looked down at Peaches and whispered for her to stay where she was and started climbing again. As she reached the top, she careful walked up behind the cultist looking over the town and grabbed him around his neck and head, pulling him down and quickly snapping his neck with a sickening crack. She careful dropped the dead body and pulled her compact bow from her back. She spotted another cultist on the rooftop across from her and pulled back an arrow to take aim. When he moved to the perfect spot, Abigail held her breath for a second before letting her arrow fly. The arrow struck the cultist through the neck, his hands reaching up for a second as though he attempted to grab the arrow just before dropping to the ground.

She looked over the railing of the roof to see a cultist beating a tied up blonde woman in the middle of the street. The woman yelled at the cultist, shouting something that was hard for her to hear properly from this distance. It was especially hard to hear her when there was a cult painted truck with big speakers in the back playing their music along with a man spewing some cultist nonsense. The voice wasn’t Joseph’s, so she safely assumed she was listening to John’s voice. She wanted to shoot that cultist now, but she had to be careful and control herself. One wrong move could ruin everything. So, she pulled her binoculars out again, surveying the area again. She spotted more cultists and a gas truck in the middle of the road further into town near a white church.

Abby shot a cultist that would of spotted her if she acted on what she wanted to do and made sure there weren’t any more around or heading that way. When she was confidence she was safe to act, Abigail shot the cultist just before he could land another hit on the woman. Watching the cultist fall before her, the woman looked to see the Deputy on the roof. A smile grew over her face, but remained quiet so the Deputy could work her magic.

Slowly and carefully, Abigail took cultist after cultist out, moving through the town with Peaches following her when she was on the ground. Peaches took out a few cultists while Abigail took out others. The two of them working perfectly together and effectively cleansing the town of cultist scum. There were a couple close calls, but before either of them could realize it, they’ve taken out every member of Eden’s Gate and were free to let the hostages finally go.

______________________________________________

With everyone free, the people of Fall’s End immediately got to work removing as much evidence of Eden’s Gate as they could after extensively thanking Abigail for helping them. Abby eagerly helped the townsfolk, ripping off boards nailed to the windows, getting cultist trucks to the garage to get repainted, and attempting to scrub off as much of the spray painted “SINNER” off the buildings.

She also got herself introduced to the blonde woman who she learned was named Mary May Fairgrave as well as the local pastor Jerome Jeffries. Both of them were respected members of the town and Jerome especially was a nice change. He was a man of God, but one that didn’t believe in torturing and drugging people to get his teachings across. He was also the kind of pastor that wore a bulletproof vest and kept a gun in his bible these days and she respected him for it. Usually, she’d see a gun hidden in the bible as a bad thing, but in this case, she definitely had no problems with it.

By the time they were done, night had fallen and most of the townsfolk wrapped up what they were working. Abigail saw Jerome made his way to the local bar called The Spread Eagle, telling her that when she was ready to call it a night, he wanted to talk to her some more there. Deputy worked a little bit longer after that before finally giving up trying to scrub away cultist graffiti and decided to head inside herself. As she opened the front door, she could hear Jerome’s voice coming from inside.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain…”

She stepped further inside into the dimly lit bar, her only light being the neon signs that decorated the interior and a ceiling fan whirling its blades to cool off anyone inside. Abigail spotted Jerome in the back near a set of stairs heading up to the bar’s second floor, pacing calmly with a bible in his hand.

“’For I know the plans that I have made for you’. Declared the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper you and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’” He continued to quote before turning to see Abigail heading his way.

A smile grew on his face as he met her halfway to shake her hand like she was a close friend he’s known for years. “I don’t claim to know God’s plans, but I know a good thing when I see it. You’re getting quite the reputation, Deputy.” That last part made a little chuckle escape her lips as their hands finally separated.

“You’re the first good thing to happen to this in a long time.” He smiled, his words striking Abigail in a way that made her heart both sore and ache.

Before Abigail could say anything back, another voice broke into their conversation. “A little help?” Mary May called from the stairs making both of them look in that direction.

Jerome immediately walked to the stairs seeing Mary carrying down three heavy wooden crates, “Are you trying to break your neck?”

“Seemed like a good idea at the time…”, she quipped back as Jerome walked up the remaining steps to put his bible on top of the top crate and take it off the stack she carried.

Once Jerome walked off, Abigail wasn’t far behind to helping Mary out too. Mary didn’t seem to realize that Abigail was there until she walked down the rest of the steps and realized another crate was being lifted off the final crate.

“Oh shit. It’s you. Sorry, didn’t realize…”, she chuckled a bit as she walked past Abigail, towards the bar. “All you’ve done might as well add mover to the list huh?” That got a little laugh out of her as she followed Mary to the bar.

“I thought that Eden’s Gate confiscated all this.” Jerome pointed out after they put down all the crates down on the bar’s surface and grabbing a bottle of alcohol from one of the crates.

“The hell kinda Fairgrave would I be if I didn’t have a hidden stash?” Mary replied with a sharp tongue, giving Jerome a reason to let out a soft chuckle.

Mary turned her attention to the crate Abigail brought over that had a framed photo on top of it. The photo showed a smiling Mary next to an older man. She slowly walked to the photo, taking it into her hands as she let out a solemn, “I learned from the best…”

Abigail felt a pained strike in her heart after putting two and two together, feeling the pain Mary must have felt. Mary took the photo and walked towards the bar’s kitchen area as Jerome spoke up again, “This town…it’s been through a lot, Deputy. We owe you thanks, but…”

Mary interrupted Jerome as she came back to Abigail with a couple of empty metal cups, “I know you’re looking for your people. But the truth is, you ain’t the only one in need of help. Pastor and I can only do so much…”

Those words hurt Abigail to hear. She was desperate to find the rest of her people, knowing that John had his hands on either Hudson or Pratt, especially after hearing the kind of man John was. She knew there was only so much Mary and Jerome could do for her, but part of her hoped they didn’t assume she expected them to bend over backwards for her after she helped them out. Abigail hadn’t had the chance to really say much yet, but she hoped that she didn’t come off as someone who expected an arm or a leg in return for her help.

“If you can see about lending a hand, we’ll sure be to return the favor.” Jerome spoke up opening the bottle he pulled from the crate and pouring them all a drink. He got up from his seat to hand her one of the cups with a soft smile, “Whaddya say?”

Mary and Jerome lifted their cups in the air and Abigail lifted her own up into the air. She felt like she should say something in that moment, but after the day they just had and what they shared with her just now, Abigail decided to simply let her cup meet their cups and drink with them, feeling the burning liquid run down her throat, leaving behind a burn that felt good in her throat and brought warmth to her belly.

“Mary will get you squared away. When you get the chance come by the Church. I’ll be there.” Jerome spoke, breaking the silence as he grabbed his bible and got up to touch Abigail on her shoulder. He gave her a smile and a nod that she returned before heading to the front door and letting himself out.

Abigail was left alone with Mary May, turning her attention to the blonde woman with a bit of an uneven smile. Mary started pouring herself another drink as silence fell between them for a moment. Abigail, feeling the need to say something and seeing her chance to do so, open her mouth to speak.

“Hey…I don’t want to come off like I was expecting anything in return. I’m desperate to find my people, but-“Abigail tried to explain before being cut off by Mary May.

“I get it kid…” Mary looked at her with a understanding smile, “I didn’t mean to imply anything…” She paused for a second, leaning against the bar, “There’s a lot of people in Hope County…some…not best fellers…even if they seem like it at first. I didn’t want you getting any hopes up, but…I’m glad you said something. You seem like a good kid.”

That made Abigail smile more genuinely. Mary picked up the bottle again and filled Abby’s cup again with a motherly smile. “I have a room upstairs you can stay in. It’s not a five star hotel suite, but it’ll be a place to rest.”

Abby took her freshly refilled cup and replied, “I appreciate it, at this point, a bed is a bed, can’t be picky now days.”

That got a little chuckle out of Mary as she lifted her cup for another toast which Abby happily joined before taking a drink as she heard Mary May again, “Damn right kid.”


	4. Sending A Message

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Suicide/Referenced Suicide
> 
> Starts at: Standing before her, was US Marshall Cameron Burke...
> 
> Ends at: Abigail jerked up from her sleep

“She did what!?” An enraged voice rang out through the ranch, a voice that all the followers knew and feared on the property. John slammed his hands against his desk, the glass of scotch he had held only a moment before shaking from the impact. A young follower cringed and looked more like a frightened child than a grown man. John’s anger was something to be feared from all the members of Eden’s Gate for they all felt it before and knew what The Baptist was capable of doing.

“I-I…I’m sorry Brother-“The frightened follower tried to speak.

“Go!” John shouted at him, suddenly grabbing his drink and throwing it against the wall on the other side of the room with a loud and shattering crash.

The follower jumped and immediately ran through the way he came in, not wanting to risk another moment of staying in the same room with an enraged and violent John Seed. With the room to himself, John lifted a hand up to his forehead while he placed the other on his hip, just trying to process the news that was brought to him and attempting to keep his wrath under control. Joseph warned him about keeping his wrath in check before he did something that would force him to do something drastic, but with a snake that was taking more and more of everything he worked endlessly on in the span of a few days was extremely difficult to stay calm about. 

She already took Fall’s End from him and took back the fresh sinners he was suppose to baptize. How the hell is she doing this? She tore through Faith’s region within days, was silent for a day or two, and now she was starting the process all over again with his region. He can’t let her get more ground. Joseph is already going to be disappointed in his failure to keep Fall’s End, but even more so that sinners where taken, especially the ones he managed to capture. Mary May and Pastor Jerome were highly desired. Trouble makers both of them, not nearly as much as the Deputy was becoming, but troublemakers nonetheless. One a bar owner who was the heart of a lot of sinner’s morale and a false man of God that needed to realize he was on the wrong side. It wouldn't be the first time John has encountered them, having a intense history with Mary that almost made him smile again. Joseph was eager to have their journey’s starting soon after all the trouble they've been causing his youngest brother, but now, the Deputy ripped them away from him and got a town that was a hassle to get his hands on.

He estimated this snake, but not anymore. John knew he needed to act quickly to shut down any further attempts to take out what was his. He couldn’t risk letting her get back into the cycle again. Thanks to Faith, he already knew what his fate would be if he neglected this for too long. He couldn’t act just yet; there was still so much he needed to learn before he jumped in head first. He needed to stop her, but do it in a way that was smart. That was Faith's downfall. She underestimated Deputy and assumed she could take Deputy's mind just like any other person she's dealt with before and she paid the ultimate price for it. As much as he wanted to roll into Fall’s End demanding they hand him the Deputy, maybe using what he knew against Mary May to encourage her to turn on the Deputy, but he couldn’t take any risks. Now that the tides were turning in the Resistance's favor. His threats might not be enough anymore, so he needed to dig something else out of his arsenal. John couldn't threaten Deputy, threats weren't enough on their own, he needed to scare her. To somehow deter that nerve of her’s before things got too out of hand.

Then it struck him. He had someone she was looking for, someone she was desperate to find. After failing horribly to capture one, she had to be terrified of the idea of loosing another. John may not understand how she worked so quickly and effectively, but he did understand how people work. He hadn’t gotten any information back on her yet so he could be wrong to assume her mindset, especially since he only faced her once with neither of them sharing words. It was a risk still, but one that wouldn’t get him killed on the spot, one that might slow the Deputy down just enough to buy him some time or could make motivate her to work even faster. If she was smart, than she wouldn’t want to work so rapidly, she may take a property here and there, but she’ll do it at a slower pace than usual. If she was brave…he might get lucky and it would make her slip up in a way that would get her into his clutches…or bring his death upon him sooner. He didn’t have much of a choice in the end. He had to act one way or another and this could be his best bet.

Surprisingly, there was a sensation inside of John that he hadn’t felt before. The closest thing he could describe it as was…excitement. It was a thrill of a challenge that could either make his brothers hold him in higher regards, finally letting them see how capable their brother was beyond money and law or it could bring his life to an end. The fear of the latter opinion only fueled him to do what needed to be done. He hadn’t felt his alive before. If the Deputy wasn't putting their entire empire and everything he worked so tirelessly for at risk, maybe he'd find this a oddly fun. However, there was something about the risk that only excited him that much more. A smile grew on his face as a laugh came from his throat. This...was going to be fun.

“Tony!” He called out and quickly a follower coming to his call. “Send a convoy to my bunker to pick up our guest and meet me in the mountains...you know the place…I have a message I want to send…”

______________________________________________

A familiar green fog surrounded Abby, she lifted her hands up, looking down at them, seeing that she was barely able to see them within the thick fog. As expected, Abigail was having another Bliss nightmare. These nightmares were starting to become a routine and one she didn’t care for, but if the worse she saw was Faith’s death than she suppose it wasn’t too bad. Faith's dead only left her feeling a little bit sympathetic towards the woman. From what she learned, Faith used to be called Rachael and she was just a poor girl who was addicted to drugs when she found the cult and the Seeds worked their magic to influence her in her time of needing real help. Rachael deserved getting the help she needed. Abby didn't care if the cult saved her life, she needed real help, not help from a family who needed help themselves with fake methods of helping her. In the end, she ended up dying anyhow. All the cult did was by her some time, rehab might of actually helped her live. Nonetheless, what was done was done and she prepared herself to see Faith's death again. That was until she looked up.

Standing before her, was US Marshall Cameron Burke staring at her with fearful eyes and a gun in his hands. She felt her heart drop as fear began to pulse in her chest to replace it in its stead. No, no not this, anything but this. This wasn't even how it went...Faith was suppose to be here. She was suppose to encourage Burke to pull his gun out, but she was no where in sight. No Faith, no Virgil, just Abby and a man who she failed to save. Burke just stood there, staring at her for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly, he lifted the gun in his hand up to his head and Abby felt her body start to tremble.

Abby felt tears started forming in her eyes. She tried to reach out, to do something, anything, but her body refused to move, forcing her to watch the scene before her helplessly. She knew none of this was real, Burke was dead, has been dead for awhile now, but she couldn’t see this again, not again. She opened her mouth, lips and voice trembling “Bruke…please…don’t do it…”

He just stared at her, slowly opening his mouth and said the words she prayed she would never have to hear again, “I told you I didn’t want to leave…”

He pulled the trigger. The sound of a gun shot rang out as Abby closed her eyes and jumped, tears running down her face. Nothing but silence followed, only the sound of her heavy breathing in a world of darkness. When she eventually opened her eyes, Faith was standing before her where Bruke once did. She came closer, taking slow, but graceful strides towards her, lifting her hands up to hold Abby’s cheeks once she was within reach. Faith's hands were so cold, giving her goosebumps the sound Faith's skin touched her's. She slowly leaned in and whispered the more cruel words that were ever whispered to her, “You did this to him.”

Tears burned her eyes as she screamed in pure anger, sounding primal as anger and hurt consumed her soul. She pulled herself away from Faith roughly, finding there was a gun in her hand now. Without questioning it and without hesitation, Abby lifted it up to the dead woman who just smiled at her and pulled the trigger.

Abigail jerked up from her sleep, real tears running down her face as she panted like she ran a marathon. Her cheeks were oddly cold despite how hot the rest of her face was. She was frozen for a moment; feeling and thinking nothing as the shock mentally and emotionally shut her down. Her mind was totally blank, her body going numb as all feeling seemed to disappear from her. It took a few minutes before her breathing finally slowed itself down and she started to feel again. The wet lines running down her face started to dry as she was starting to finally feel and think again.

What the hell was that? Why did she see Bruke? All her dreams so far had a pattern, but this one was different. It was…horrible. Why did she have to have that nightmare? Out of all the memories she wanted to avoid, Bruke’s death was one of the top ones. Even worse, Faith was mocking her. All her dreams so far had just been recreated memories, but this time, Faith actually mocked her in a way that never happened before. Faith was the kind of woman to mock her in a time of weakness to get into her head, but she didn't understand her dreams anymore. Abigail thought she figured it out, but this was proof that her dreams were more complicated than she originally expected them to be. Not just recreated memories, but could something much, much worse too. 

It took Abby a few more minutes to fully recover. Her thoughts racing to try to make sense of what she’s experienced, but she knew that in the end it was useless to try to figure it out with so little understanding of what was happening to her. She didn’t even understand why she was having these nightmares to begin with. There was no way to tell why she had this one the way she did, for now at least. She needed to focus on the real world now. There were real people, who needed real help and she wasn’t going to get anything done sitting there trying to figure out something that she had no control over and that could, hopefully, stop with enough time. If she was lucky, these dreams were just her mind just trying to process trauma and they would go away eventually, but for now, she had other things to worry about. She got up from the bed, pretty much already ready to go thanks to her habits and went downstairs.

Mary May was already up and going, working the bar like nothing was wrong. She could smell something cooking in the kitchen and felt her stomach rumble. Only then did she realize that she hadn’t eaten in awhile and should probably get at least something in her stomach. Abby was so focused on getting to Fall’s End and helping the people here that she completely forgot to eat something. She should probably see if Mary could spare any food before she hit the road to try to take some more properties out from under John Seed’s nose to try to help the Resistance get more supplies.

“Morning there, Dep.” Mary May greeted as she wiped down the bar’s surface. “Want something to eat? We ain’t got a lot, but I got Casey back in the kitchen and he can make anything work.”

“Aw I’m blushing Mary.” A voice replied from behind Mary. She assumed the voice belonged to Casey as she walked up to the bar and confirmed her suspicions when she spotted a man through the opening in the wall between the kitchen and the bar.

“Oh hush.” Mary retorted before giving her attention back to Abigail as she sat down at the bar. “God, hun…did you sleep alright? Your eyes are really red…”

“Oh, yeah…” Abigail sighed, wiping her face a little to try to hide the fact she's been crying, “I’ve been having nightmares for a couple days now. They should go away soon. I’m good though.”

Mary didn’t seem completely satisfied with her answer, but seemed to accept it for now at least. “If you say so…”

The blonde woman turned towards the kitchen window that was behind her, grabbing a plate of two eggs, a slice of ham, and a piece of toast and placed it on the bar surface in front of her. “Eat up, you’ll need the energy to take down the cult. Luckily we had some good stuff still in stock, but we won’t have it for long. Once we take the farms back we’ll be set, but until then we’ll carefully enjoy what we have.”

“I’ll make taking the farms out a priority then.” Abigail replied, starting to dig into her breakfast when she heard a little growl next to her. Peaches was laying down not too far from her with her own plate of breakfast. There were a couple slices of ham on her plate and she licked her muzzle before biting into another slice.

“Thanks for giving some to Peaches. She’s been a trooper so far.” Abigail thanked Mary and Casey as she took a bite of her egg.

“Not like I had a choice. The way your cat was looking at me made me think she would eat me if I didn’t give her any.” Casey called from the kitchen, partly joking, partly not.

“Part of me kinda wanted her to too.” Mary teased back making herself and Abigail share a laugh before she heard her radio go off.

Dutch’s voice came through her radio, sounding tense and concerned “Hey kid. Heard you took back Fall’s End, that’s great, but you might wanna turn on the TV if you’re near one. There’s something you’ll wanna see.”

“Uh, sure hold on.” Abigail replied with a unsure tone as Mary grabbed the TV’s remote from behind the bar and used it to turn the TV on. As soon as the TV lit up to life, Abigail recognized the man on screen: John Seed.

“Oh fuck…” Mary whispered as soon as John turned around to face the camera, text stating his name showing up under him just in case someone somehow didn’t recognize him.

“We are all sinners. Every one of us. You. Me. Even The Father knows deeply of sin.” A chuckle came from his lips with the last bit as though it funny to think that someone like The Father was capable of being a sinner. “It’s a poison that clouds our minds.” He continued, the camera zooming out to show him walking towards his followers.

“What if I told you, you could be free from sin?” John went on, touching the shoulder of the follower closest to him before touching the other and leading them to walk with him. “What if I told you that everything you ever dreamed could come true? What if I told you that everything could be over come if you embraced an idea.” The followers he walked with left his side to join another group and the camera changed to focus purely on John once again. “That freedom from sin can come from the power of just one word…” John stared at the camera before lifting his arms up into the air as the camera panned up to a sign lit up by light bulbs as a crowd of cultists said the sign aloud together, “YES”

“What is this?” Mary leered at the TV suspiciously.

Abigail was just as confused. This was the horrific John everyone told her about? So far, he just sounded like a bad commercial trying to sell her a shitty product, but she remained quiet and watched.

The crowd who read out the sign cheered and clapped as the camera switched angles and Abigail’s heart sank. A beaten Hudson with her hands tied to the front of her and her mouth duck taped shut was being pushed by a cultist closer to John. Abigail nearly jumped out of her seat, but didn’t dare say a word and just watched what John planned to do. The camera focused back to John as he started to walk behind Hudson. “Yes I am a sinner. Yes I wished to be unburdened. Yes…I must be redeemed.”

John grabbed Hudson by the arms as he moved to stand beside her, the last words he spoke was followed by one of his hands reaching for Hudson’s throat. Hudson lifted her head up, eyes full of anger, and the faint sound of her muffled voice managed to get through her gag. The camera angle changed again as John started to walk away from Hudson, continuing his speech “If you’re watching this, know that you have been selected. You will be cleansed. You will confess your sins, and you will be offered atonement. Don’t worry you don’t have to do anything. We’ll come for you. Welcome…to Eden’s Gate.” With that, John walked off screen, chanting heard in the background, and the broadcast made the TV’s screen turn dark.

Abigail was dumbfounded, barely able to fully comprehend the amount of balls John just showed her. “That son of a bitch…” She whispered under her breath, anger fueling her.

“Abby…John’s trying to piss you off. He wants you to do something stupid.” Mary spoke logically.

“He has the balls to threaten me like that!? To threaten Hudson!?” Abigail shouted to no one in particular, getting up from her seat, and hitting the bar’s surface.

“Abby! Don’t be stupid!” Mary shouted back at her, “He’s not gonna do shit. He definitely won’t kill Hudson now. He’s using her to get to you.”

Abigail forced herself to take a breath, trying to calm herself down. “This fucking guy…”

“Use that anger Abby, use it to kick cultist ass.” Mary continued to speak, helping Abby calm down enough to start thinking more logically.

“Yeah…you’re right…” Abby sighed before looking to Mary, “Thanks…”

Mary gave her a sympathetic smile, “I get it kid. John pulls shit like this all the time. Look…if you really wanna hit him in the balls…take those farms back. Take supplies from them and give them to us. Another thing, talk to Nick Rye. He’s a hell of ‘va pilot and the cult screwed him so bad, he’ll help you out in a heartbeat.” Mary paused for a second before giving a more motherly smile, “At the rate you get shit done I expect all the farms back and Nick on your side by noon.”

That last comment managed to make Abigail smile and she looked at Mary with confidence replacing her anger, “Make it by ten.”


	5. A Risky Move

The moment the camera shut off, John grinned at no one in particular, confident and even a little bit proud of himself. His followers took the struggling Hudson away as she screamed at him through her duck tape gag. As though she was just white noise, he pulled a cigarette and a lighter out of his shirt pocket behind his vest, barely acknowledging her existence. He eventually looked at her with a smug look on his face as he lifted the cigarette up to his lips and lit it, gently inhaling and letting the smoke fill his lungs. His followers pulled Hudson, struggling to hold onto her as she fought them every step to the back of the van they delivered her in. She managed to get an arm free and went to hit one of his followers before two others aimed their rifles up to her. Hudson looked at the men around her before her eyes met John’s. He didn’t plan on killing her, not now especially. He needed this woman alive to lure out the one he really wanted. The Deputy wouldn’t know for sure if Hudson was alive or not, but if he did have her killed and she found out about it, then his plan could fall apart. It was a risk he wasn’t willing to take, but Hudson didn’t need to know that.

He pulled his cigarette from his lips between two fingers, exhaling smoke from his lips. His eyes still locked on Hudson’s as he gently shook his head at her, warning her to just obey them. There was so much rage in her eyes, but soon he saw fear creep its way in. Joey slowly lowered her arm, just as unwilling to take the risk as John was, letting the followers led her into the back of the van and letting its doors close on her. A little chuckle left his lips as he returned his gaze to the Montana wilderness. His followers packed up all the gear they brought on site for their little commercial as John slowly lost himself in his thoughts.

His move was a bold one, but one that could turn the tides of war. The Deputy will either be motivated or stunned at his move, but regardless of the outcome, John could use it to his advantage. Killing Hudson would of backfired on him, but he knew that even if she never confessed to him, he could find some use for her and today proved that. Showing the Deputy that Hudson was still alive will either slow her down or make her reckless. Either way, John felt like the Deputy will be in his custody soon. All he had to do was prepare for the possibilities and wait.

“Finished filming your little commercial?” A familiar voice spoke up behind him.

A soft sigh left John’s lips, taking on last long look at the Montana wilderness before turning to the man behind him before pulling the cigarette from his mouth, “Yes, just getting everything packed up now. I have no doubt she’s gotten my message. She knows what she’s at stake now.”

“For your sake I hope you’re right.” Jacob looked at his brother with folded arms, looking a lot more like a strict father than a protective brother. “You started a dangerous game John.”

“Do you think I can’t handle this?” John questioned with irritation in his voice before taking another puff of his cigarette, trying to calm his growing anger towards his brother.

“I know you can John, but I also know you get carried away.” Jacob replied with a bit more concern showing itself in his voice. “You can’t just do what you want with this one. The Father wants her.”

John closed the distance between them with a more aggressive walk towards his brother, smoke escaping from his mouth, “I know that Jacob. I’m not as sinful and out of control as you and Joseph think I am. I got this, but I appreciate the concern.”He replied back, trying to keep himself calm from his brother’s implications.

Jacob got close enough to touch John on the shoulder, his strong hand making John jerk downwards a little from the initial impact. “It’s not that…Joseph is worried about you. He’s worried you’re straying from the path.”

“I’m not straying.” John glared at Jacob, “I’m doing my part for The Father, now more than ever. Faith is gone now so I have even more to do now. Once I get the Deputy, everything will get a lot easier and I can focus more on preparing for The Collapse.”

A sigh left Jacob, looking more like the brother he use to know now more than ever, “Just…let me know if you need help. Okay John?”

A sideways smile grew on John’s face. “I can do this on my own, but…I’ll keep it in mind.”

That seemed to satisfy Jacob for the time being. He gave his younger brother a small smile before bringing his hand up to the back of John’s head and pulled him forward. Jacob put his forehead up against John’s, closing his eyes with John quickly mimicking him. After a few seconds, Jacob let go of his brother before giving him a nod and turning to return to the truck he came in.

When Jacob’s back was turned, John sneered in his direction. Jacob was good at mind games. He knew that this had to be one of them. Jacob was that kind of a brother a long time ago, but the military killed him a long time ago. No, there was something else going on. He wasn’t sure what, but he had suspicions it had something to do with the Deputy. He was gonna need to keep an eye on his own brother now too. If Joseph really was starting to question him, then he needed to do this right that much more. Joseph was forgiving for John’s past sins, but this one was one he couldn’t treat normally. This was a special case and Jacob could want some of the glory John would get from this. John wasn’t going to let that happen though. Out of the four of them before Faith died, John shined the least of them. With Faith gone, John can prove he’s just as equal, if not superior, to his remaining sibling and John wasn’t going to let Jacob take that from him. 

John has come a long way since he was a child. He was wealthy, had people in his pocket, and did his job well. In the eyes of society, he was respectable, desirable, and far more successful than his brothers have been in their lives. Yet, he’s still seen as a wayward child to his brothers, incapable of being competent in areas other than manipulating the law or blackmailing. This was going to change that. He was going to capture the snake, make it atone for her sins, and turn it into the most dedicated follower Joseph has ever seen. That will make his brothers see finally him as an equal instead of the bruised and scared little boy they used to know.

“Brother John?” A voice timidly spoke behind him.

Another, more irritated sigh made its way from his throat. Will no one leave him alone for more than a few minutes? “Yes?” He simply replied, not even bothering to look at the follower, “I pray it’s good news?”

“Yes, Brother John.” The follower spoke up a bit more confidently, coming around more into his line of sight with a vanilla folder in his hands. “This is for you.”

Now John looked curiously at his follower before holding out his hand and letting the follower place the folder into his hand. He dismissed the follower with a gentle wave of his hand and the follower bowed his head respectfully before running off. John opened the folder to reveal its contents and soon after a wicked grin grew on his face. Finally, he got his missing piece. He stared at the picture that he recognized as his snake and read her full name aloud to himself. “Abigail Marie Winters….”

He studied the pretty face in the picture and noticed how some of her traits reminded him of Faith, but in a way, used more effectively then Faith's did. Maybe it was the fierceness or rebellion naturally present in her that Faith lacked that made her stand out more between the two, but there was also gentleness present. Shameful that Abigail chose to work for the The Resistance, because John could honestly see her being a woman he could see himself sharing a room in his bunker with. No matter, he was going to have her regardless which path she chose and soon The Father will have her for whatever he pleased. For now though, he needed to study his snake and see what potential sins plague her soul.

______________________________________________

“Hey there buddy! Who’s a good boy?” Abigail spoke in a cutesy voice, crouching down a bit and patting her knees playfully.

A blue speckled and black patched dog barked and jumped around in excitement after finally getting released from the cage the cultist stuck him in. The dog jumped up on Abigail’s legs, his paws reaching her stomach with a tail wagging so fast it could break the sound barrier. Abigail couldn’t stop herself from petting the excited dog rigorously, getting slightly jealous glances from Peaches in the process. She tried to look for a name tag of some kind, but the dog only had a couple pieces of ropes as a collar.

“Where are your owners bud?” She asked sweetly, once the dog started to calm down from all the excitement.

The Australian Cattle dog whined softly and hopped down off Abigail to lead her to a doghouse where two dead bodies laid. He sat down by them, whining and dropping his head in mourning for his lost owners. Abigail felt her heart break and went up to the dog and gave him a gentle pat on his head, even Peaches seemed a bit sympathetic to the canine for his loss.

“It’ll be okay buddy. You can hang out with us and we’ll make sure your family gets taken care of.” Abigail didn’t know why she was talking to this dog like it was a person, but there was something about him that reminded her of Peaches, that he was smart enough to understand her despite the language barrier.

She heard trucks starting to pull up and the dog turned around, growling at the oncoming trucks, alerting her to get ready for a potential attack. As soon as she saw the pure white trucks with the cult’s symbol painted on the sides, she took cover and pulled her rifle out as the trucks drove up to the property. Just as she started shooting at a couple cultists that jumped out of the trucks, Dutch’s voice came through her radio. He must have seen what happened through one of his cameras and knew that Abigail took the farm back from the cult.

“Hey kid…losing Rae-Rae…that one hits hard. This fuckin’ Seed family…But I’m glad to hear you rescued ol’ Boomer. Lemme tell you, that dog…He’ll sniff out trouble, and watch your back better’n you can believe.” Dutch called through sounding upset at first before sounding more hopeful about Boomer.

“Boomer huh? That your name?” Abigail asked the dog, hiding behind a large crate while reloading.

Boomer barked in reply with his tail wagging hard before turning his attention to Eden’s Gate and growling. She watched as Peaches pounced and bit into a cultist’s neck while Boomer ran up to the cultist taking aim at her and biting his gun. The brave dog growl and shook his head, using his weight to keep the cultist from shooting the big cat, giving Abigail the chance to shoot him until he dropped dead.

“Nice one guys!” Abigail called out, laughing and watching her animal companions taking out cultist after cultist with her finishing off the ones Peaches didn’t.

With the three of them together, they killed every cultist that came to take them down until there wasn’t anyone left. “Good boy! Good kitty!” Abigail grinned, giving each of her animal companions a well deserved pet.

Abigail loved having Boomer with her, but there wasn’t a whole lot of room left in the truck she brought between her and a mountain cat. She didn’t want to leave him here either, but luckily Fall’s End wasn’t a far drive from here and she would need go through Fall’s End anyways to get to Nick. At least there, she knew that Boomer would get treated like a king, so she wouldn’t have to worry about him. Besides, she wanted to deliver Mary the good news herself that the farms now belong to The Resistance and that they would get a more reliable flow of food.

Peaches hoped into the truck once Abigail opened the door and she helped Boomer into the bed of the truck and hoped into the driver’s side. Peaches was comfortably squeezed between Abby and the door, but any tighter and neither of them would be comfortable. A dog definitely wouldn’t fit in well and having Boomer in the bed for a long period of time would make her nervous with all the cultists having a good shot at him at any time. Maybe if she grabbed a car she could squeeze Boomer back into the group, but for now Peaches was more than enough. With that in mind, Abigail turned on the truck and headed back to Fall’s End with some well deserved good news and a new friend to join their cause.


	6. The Ranch

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but…I’m desperate partner.” The man known as Nick Rye spoke a bit solemnly.

Abigail looked at the pilot in front of her basically begging for help, any help at all. She understood his desperation though. He was scared and not just for his own safety. Nick has a wife and a unborn child to worry about and just hearing him talk about them was enough to show how dedicated he was to them. She got to see firsthand how bad the situation was. When she showed up, her radio was going nuts of a man in the middle of a firefight, calling for anyone who could to come help his family and him. Abigail was the only one to show up, but when she did she saw enough cultists there to qualify as a small army. It was a long and hard fight that they ultimately won. If she hadn’t shown up when she did then Nick might not be standing in front of her and she didn’t even want to think what would happen to his pregnant wife.

This was an extremely risky mission though. To help Nick, she needed to go to John Seed’s Ranch, the bastard’s own fucking home. There was gonna be cultist everywhere, heavily armed ones too. She was hesitant to even consider such a bold move, but as she looked at Nick, she just couldn’t say no to him. Abigail didn’t want to abandon him, especially since his pregnant wife’s safety was on the line. He couldn’t come with her, given someone needed to stay behind to protect the property from another attack. If she was going to go she needed to go soon, but she also had to be smart about it.

Abby looked over to Peaches as the big cat yawned, showing off her huge fangs. For a moment, Abby contemplated bringing Boomer along, but she didn’t want to risk anything that could give her away. This was going to be stealth based entirely. The only two others she could call were Sharky and Adelaide. Sharky definitely wasn’t the stealthy type. Hell, he rarely knew how to be quiet for more than few minutes. She loved the guy, but bringing a loud mouth, flamethrower wielding, redneck probably wasn’t the smartest for stealth. Adelaide suffered from a similar problem, but instead of a flamethrower, she had a helicopter. She’ll keep her in mind in case of an emergency but unless she was being shot at, she wasn’t going to risk the chance of the cultist figuring out the looming helicopter wasn’t one that Eden’s Gate had anymore. Part of her even tempted to leave Peaches with Nick, not only for back up for Nick, but because if she had to resort to sticking to rooftops, than there was a chance that something could go wrong. Fall’s End wasn’t so bad about it, but she didn’t have to stick to rooftops the whole time and there weren’t nearly as many cultists as she was expecting for John’s Ranch. She was going to wait on that call though until she scoped the place out. It wouldn’t be smart to go alone, but if she had to, then she would.

With a general plan in mind and some confidence building about this within her, Abigail finally replied, “Don’t worry about it Nick. You got your family to look after. I’ll get it done, somehow.”

Nick took a breath of relief, the fearful and anxious vibes coming off him being replaced with something hopeful. “Thanks partner. It’ll mean the world to us.” The pilot came closer to her and patted her back, “There’s not enough good folks are left thanks to the cult, but I’m glad we still got some kick ass ones in The Resistance. If anyone can do it, it’ll be the woman who took down Faith Seed.”

Nick’s encouraging words lit a fire in her doubtful spirit. His confidence in her was both inspiring and terrifying. There was a lot riding on this, so she couldn’t make any mistakes. This could be exactly what John wanted, but she couldn’t just abandon Nick either. If she didn’t do this right for her own sake, then she’ll do it because Nick needed her to.

“I don’t have a lot of experience with planes and most likely, I’ll have to fly it out of there. So, if I get it, I’ll call you through the radio and you’ll have to give me a quick flying lesson to make sure she get home safely. I don’t wanna get nearly killed just to fuck up my landing.” Abby spoke with humor in her voice, getting a laugh out of Nick.

“Don’t worry ‘bout that partner. I’ll teach you everything you’ll need to know.” Nice grinned, allowing her to see him genuinely seem hopeful for the first time since they’ve met.

“I can’t make any promises though. I might have to get out of there if shit hits the fan. So, I may not come back with a plane, but even if I fail the first time, I’ll make sure I don’t a second time.” Abigail added, wanting to be honest, but not disheartening to him.

Nick gave her a small, slightly sad smile, but his voice told her he wasn’t sad at all, “Dep, just you saying yes is more than enough. I know what’s at risk for you and just the fact you’re attempting makes you a god damn saint in my book.”

“Geez, you’re gonna make me blush.” Abigail grinned before letting out a reluctant sigh, “Well, I better get going. The sooner I get your plane back, the sooner you can get out of here with your wife.”

“True enough good luck out there Dep.” Nick grinned, walking backwards a bit towards his missing plane’s garage and giving her a causal salute that turning into a wave goodbye as his hand left his forehead before turning around to walk properly back. Abby gave him a parting smile and returned the gesture. With that she started to head towards the woods to find her way to John Seed’s Ranch and prayed to whatever god was listening, that she could pull this off.

______________________________________________

“Oh fuck…” Abby uttered under her breath as she looked into her binoculars, using the surrounding wilderness as a cover.

Just as she feared, there were cultists everywhere. The good news was that there was a good chance that Peaches could do this with her. While there was a massive wooden house and a huge hanger, there was a lot of ground too. Already a dozen routes were running through her head, trying to figure out which would give her the best results. Main objective was to at least turn the alarms off. If she got spotted after that, the remaining cultist would be more manageable and she would have a good chance of taking out everyone here. Not only would she take John’s own house from him, but she’d get Nick’s plane out safely too. It was a huge risk, but had a huge reward along with it.

There was probably going to be a time where she was going to be separated from Peaches, but it shouldn’t be a long one. Either way, Abby was a bit worried about Peaches. If something were to happen, she didn’t want her big house cat going down with her. She didn’t want to think about what John might do to her cougar if they got caught. She could tell Peaches to run, but Peaches was so damn loyal to her that she knew better then to try it. The cougar was stubborn and despite being smart enough to know what “run” means, she knew Peaches wouldn’t listen and would go down with her, yet another reason to do this right.

“Alright…let’s do this.” She whispered softly to Peaches, slowly making her way through her wilderness cover, carefully and thoughtfully making her way closer to the property.

There was a cultist talking to another cultist, but it was hard to hear what they were saying while the cult’s music was playing so damn loudly. In a way, it was a good thing they loved their music loud. It helped cover up a lot of the smaller noises that could give her away, but it was annoying to have to listen to their music for more than a second.

When the two cultists finally started going in different directions, she threw a throwing knife at one, hitting him in the neck and making him fall to the ground with a breath of air hoarsely leaving his throat. Before the other one could realize what happened, she came up behind them and grabbed them around the neck and head, quickly jerking their head to snap their neck and quietly lowered them to the ground. Since they were close to tall grass, Abby decided to play it safe and pull their bodies into the grass, hoping no one would notice them until long after she left.

Just like she did in Fall’s End, Abby and Peaches slowly and methodically took out cultist after cultists together. She wanted to take out as many as she could outside, taking out alarms as she did. Besides the main house, there was another building she safely assumed was the hanger or at the very least, the building that housed Nick’s plane. There wasn’t anywhere else it could be, it had to be there. She wasn’t going to run to it quite yet. She wanted to take out all the cultists here, not only so The Resistance could take John’s house from him, but also to ensure the plane’s condition. The last thing she wanted to risk was to get shot down by a cultist with a RPG that she missed.

With the main house’s doors already wide open, Abby snuck her way inside and realized she was walking right into John’s house. She looked around, seeing a beautiful fireplace with an expensive looking couch and a couple chairs in front of it. She also spotted shelves full of books and a glass case containing Eden’s Gate flags and objects related to the cult. John always looked like the type of guy that used taxidermy animals for decoration and she was right in her assumption. He had a couple of them lining his walls, one being a cougar that made Peaches growl at it as though she was insulted by it. One of the rooms she saw on the bottom floor looked like an office, but once she knew no one was inside, she didn’t pay much attention to it and kept moving. On the other side of the fire place were an expensive dining table with papers and a phone resting on its surface. The phone beeped in a way that told her there was an unheard message on it and while her curiosity was stirred up, she knew better than to listen to it now. Maybe after she took this place from him she could indulge herself. Above the table was a chandler made of antlers which didn’t surprise her given the rest of his decoration choices.

She took out a couple more cultists as she explored the main house. The rest of the house was much like the main floor of it and while John was a murderous psychopath, she couldn’t help but admire his taste. He looked more sophisticated than his brothers and his house alone reflected it. John’s home reflected the man he liked to present himself as rather than the unstable, torturing, cultist he was. It was telling to see what kind of person someone was by the way they decorated their living space and John’s looked exactly how she’d imagined it.

Once she was confident the house was clear of any cultists, she made her way back outside once again, headed towards the hanger. She still kept her guard up, carefully walking to the hanger and checking her back every couple of steps. She made her way to the door in the side of the building, the little window showing Nick’s plane patiently waiting for her inside and not much else. She opened the door with excitement and confidence, smiling as she stepped inside, the plane just within her grasp.

“Well well…the snake comes to violate my personal garden.” A voice spoke up out of the darkness of the hanger.

The voice sent a chill down her spine, immediately recognizing it. Peaches growled towards the back of the hanger, underneath the railing of the second floor that shadowed the area. Even with the Sun peaking in through the opened door on the second floor, the area was perfectly darkened to the point that she wouldn’t notice anyone hiding there at the first glance. There John slowly stepped out from the darkness with a smug look on his face with four cultists by his side. Abigail was frozen like a deer at headlight. How did he know? Why did she let herself just rush on in the hanger without thinking? Confusion and fear rushed her thoughts, but she tried to remain calm though she could feel herself failing to do so.

As quickly as she could, Abigail reached for her rifle, but just as she made a move, the cultists raised their guns and pointed them directly at her. Just as they did, John smugly spoke, “I wouldn’t do that.”

Peaches growled and hissed at the cultists, looking like she was ready to pounce which seemed to grab John’s attention. With a quick gesture of his hand, one of the cultists quickly aimed his rifle at Peaches and before Abigail could do anything, they fired a round into Peaches’ leg. The cougar roared in pain and Abigail screamed.

“No! Peaches!” She cried out, jerking to move to her feline companion before John spoke up.

“Ah, stay still Abigail. My men are a little jumpy.” He grinned, seemingly amused by the sight.

Abigail looked at John in horror, confused as to how he knew her name, but she had much more pressing concerns. She noticed that there wasn’t any blood and that Peaches started to look more tired than anything. The cougar tried to growl and roar at the cultists and even attempted to go through with her plan to pounce of them, but her legs were starting to fail her.

“What did you do to her?!” Abigail yelled in fear for her cat, glaring at John with anger.

“Bliss bullets.” John answered as he pulled a cigarette from his shirt pocket. “She’ll be fine, just gonna take a nap. We don’t need a cougar thinking she could get you out of this. Besides, a cougar like that is more usual alive then dead. I’ve heard plenty of stories about you and that cougar, needed to play things safe is all.”

Abigail watched as the cougar slowly lowered to the ground, growling softly almost like a purr as she slowly, but reluctantly fell asleep beside Abigail’s feet. She balled her hands, wanting desperately to comfort Peaches, but even with the guns pointed at her were filled with Bliss bullets, she didn’t want to get shot and be forced to sleep. The last thing she wanted was John being able to get his hands on her unconscious body. However, really at this point, it wasn’t really up to her.

John slowly started walking towards her, placing the cigarette between his lips and lighting it. Abigail tensed up as his cultist came up to her and started to grab at her. They started to grab the guns and bow off her back, patting her down from behind and grabbing anything they could find off of her that wasn’t her clothing as John came up close to her. Even with her clothes still on, she felt naked without her weapons especially with the way John’s blue eyes were staring at her. She noticed his eyes looking up and down her frame, most likely to make sure his cultists didn’t miss anything that could be easily spotted, but she wouldn’t be surprised if there was another reason as well.

His hand reached up to grab her chin and lifted her face up. “Such a shame someone so pretty is so full of…pride…and wrath. I’m sure there’s more, but I’ll find out soon enough.”

Abigail glared at John and tried to spit in his face, but he must of known her move because his hand fixed itself around her jaw to force it stay still, painfully squeezing it and her face. The cultists behind her grabbed her hands and yanked them behind her, using duck tape multiple layers around her wrists to make sure she couldn’t get out of it. A thrilled look spread to his face, excitement filling his blue eyes as a wicked, almost perverted grin grew on his face.

“Such a fighter, even when you know you lost. That pride is unwavering in you, but don’t worry. I’ll make sure that you atone for it along with all your other sins. No matter how many they may be…” He practically whispered, as his face just got closer.

She had a smart ass remark, but with the way he held her jaw, she was forced to remain silent, allowing him to keep going in his moment. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be the fiercest and most loyal follower of The Father. Speaking of which…I have good news to tell him. In the mean time…” John cut himself off, nodding towards one of the cultists.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her hip. John finally let go of her, her face sore from his hand squeezing it so tightly. She was able to turn to see one of the cultists with a gun pointed right where she was shot. In that moment she started to feel a tiredness wash over her and she started to see lights in her eyes. Her vision started to blur as her knees grew weak. She suddenly felt her head start to spin and her body going numb as she watched the image of being surrounded by cultists became the ceiling, but she didn’t feel herself hit the ground. John came back into her vision; faintly putting it together that he caught her.

“Just relax and sleep. You have a big night coming…” He spoke gently, her head spinning as she slowly blacked out into John Seed’s arms.


	7. The Cleansing

When Abigail finally started regaining consciousness, she saw the sky was dark despite the lights in her vision. Her head ached like she got hit with a brick. Her hip was pulsed in a dull pain and her nerves slowly woke up, making her feel all the aches and pains her body endured. She had no idea where she was, but as her vision started to clear up she spotted a man walking over to a body that lay next to her. The man spoke and pointed to the other body, but she couldn’t understand what he said. It sounded like she was underwater, but then suddenly another voice spoke up, this one she understood.

“No. This one.” The voice said in a matter of fact fashion. She looked up, barely getting control of her body again to see the other man as he pointed at her.

Her vision and hearing started to become clearer as she tried to roll onto her back as the two men surrounded her. “Don’t seem very worthy.” The first man remarked looking down at her before looking at the other man who was out of her sight.

“It is not for us to judge.” The other voice spoke up, just as deadpan as his last remark. “Deliver them unto the waters. The Cleansing begins tonight.”

The man in her vision didn’t speak again, instead started to pick up Abigail’s mostly dead body just before she blacked out again.

The next time she opened her eyes, the new sight before her was even stranger than the last. It was like water was rushing over her eyes, before she realized that was because she was underwater. A faint image of a man was on the other side as she felt her body being held down in place. A voice faintly made it to her ears as she started to get the strength to fight the man holding her down, her body waking up and realizing it was in danger, “We must wash away our past. We must expose our sins.

Before she could start to fight too hard, the man holding her down lifted her up out of the water, allowing her to finally get a breath in her lungs. She looked at the man, realizing he was a cultist, but too weak to do much of anything about it.

The voice she heard in the water kept going on, “We must atone…For only then may we stand in the light of God and walk through his Gate unto Eden.”

Slowly, Abigail started to realize the voice was John’s preaching their fucked up beliefs. The cultist looked at her almost warmly as he opened his arm out to start guiding her. She looked ahead, seeing she wasn’t the only one that was held underwater as they were being guided back to the river’s side onto land just as she was. She faintly made out John standing in the river in front of her, a book open in his hand, and the other in the air as he passionately preached to everyone there. He touched each of the ones who were held underwater on the forehead and tracing a mark on them like he was approving them as they passed by him. She wanted to squirm, to fight as the cultist guided her to John, but her body lacked the strength to obey her and soon, she was face to face with John once again.

He closed his book upon seeing her, his face becoming smugger. “Not this one.” He spoke up, outstretching a hand to the cultist guiding her and making him pause in his steps.

John didn’t break eye contact with her as he gave his book to the cultist that held her, leaving her alone with John Seed while others looked on. With anger in his eyes John spoke again, “This one’s not clean.”

Suddenly, without giving Abigail a chance, John lunged forward, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her back down into the water. She felt ice cold water rush over her again, filling her mouth as it opened to scream, her eyes aching and burning. She struggled in his grip, trying to fight against him, but it was useless. She didn’t have nearly enough strength to free herself from him, yet her body refused to give up. When he finally lifted her up out of the water, Abigail coughed violently, water rushing out of her throat and down her chest. Her vision started to show lights again as John just smiled with a sick perverted joy seeing her like this. He gently shook his head and gently shushed her like he actually wanted to comfort her. He jerked her again, just about to force her underwater again when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Do you mock the Cleansing, John?” The voice spoke behind him, her head immediately recognizing it.

The look on John’s face became more fearful as he let go of one of her shoulders to move aside, holding onto her other shoulder, giving her a full sight of Joseph Seed standing before them, dressed up for the occasion. “No Joseph.” John replied fearfully like a kid who was caught by their dad doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing.

Joseph barely waited for John’s reply before speaking again “Shhh. You have to love them, John. Do not let your sin prevent that. Bring that one to me.”

At his command John and the cultist guided Abigail towards Joseph. Her vision blurred from the sudden movement making out just enough to realize Joseph opened his arms to her. They brought her so close to Joseph their faces almost touched. Joseph’s hands touched her face, more tenderly than John had been with her. His steel blue eyes stared into her soul, judging her and almost dead like.

“Despite all that you have done, you are not beyond salvation. You’re not here by accident or by chance. You are here by the grace of God. You’ve been given a gift.” He whispered to her, “Now it remains to be seen whether you choose to embrace it…or cast it aside.”

For a split second, Abigail thought she saw something in his eyes, like he realized something, but it was so quick that she wasn’t sure if it was real or something her tired, drugged mind came up with. Joseph paused for a moment, staring at her before turning to look at a worried and scared John. He touched his brother on the shoulder and whispered to him, “This one shall reach the Atonement. Or the Gates the Eden shall be shut to you John.”

As he spoke, she watched Joseph put a hand behind John’s head, leading John forward so their foreheads could touch as their eyes closed. As Joseph let John go, she heard a soft “Yes Joseph” from John’s lip, sounding just as scared as he looked.

With that Joseph walked away, leaving Abigail alone with John again. John stared at Joseph as he walked away; feeling strange to see him look so tired and scared at the same time. It wasn’t long before John turned to her, that familiar anger slightly returning to him when he spoke to her “You will confess. Every sin you’ve ever committed, no matter how petty, no matter how small…I will pull from you. Then we’ll see if you’re worthy of Atonement.”

With a slight nod, John commanded the cultist near her to guide her again, this time to a white van. Without the strength to fight him, Abigail had no choice by to let the cultist guide her into the back of the van. He sat her down on the bench like seat it had before shutting the door on her. The other victims seemed to be going into a van of their own making her wonder where the hell she was going. She felt exhaustion take over as she ended up shutting her eyes before passing out once again.

When she opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was her hand tied to a metal chair arm with rope. Her vision was blurred again, but was starting to clear up much more quickly than last time. She could make out someone sitting across from her, struggling as hard as they could to free themselves from the chair and she could faintly hear the sound of someone whistling. Suddenly, another figure came into her vision, placing down a metal box on the medical table next to her. She quickly recognized John Seed as he walked across the room, whistling like he was having a fantastic day as he placed a large tool box on a tool table in between her and the other person he had tied up. He opened the toolbox and dusted the table off with large, dramatic wipes of his hand before continuing to unload the tool box’s contents. However, he stopped quickly to stop, take a breath, and then turn to look at Abigail with a pleased look on his face. Her vision was clear now, but she still couldn’t tell who shared the room with them thanks to the poor lighting that left them shadowed.

John was silent for a moment before starting to speak. “My parents were the first ones to teach me about the Power of Yes.” He turned back towards the tool box, continuing to unload more of its contents as he continued to speak, “One night, they took me into the kitchen, and they threw me on the ground and I experienced pain after pain after pain after pain… ” She realized there was a staple gun in his hand as he lifted it up and stapled what look like a chunk of skin that was tattooed on.

He slammed the staple gun into the table, making Abigail jump in her chair and a little squeak escaped her lips. “And when I didn’t think I could take anymore. I did.” He continued, grabbing something that she couldn’t quite see before he made his way over to the table near her.

“Something broke free inside, I wasn’t scared. I was…clear” He turned on the lamp that stood on the table, looking at her.

He attached a tube to the thing in his hands, quickly letting her realize that the thing he grabbed was a tattoo gun. “I looked up at them and I started to laugh. All I could was say…Yes.” He placed the tattoo gun down on the table, wanting to use both his hands to help tell his story. “I spent my entire life looking for more things to say ‘yes’ to.”

John lunged forward, making Abigail jump again as he grabbed onto her white shirt and ripped it open, exposed her chest to him, the only thing concealing her breasts from him was her bra. He stared at her chest, her face turned red from the embarrassment of feeling the heat of his eyes staring at her breasts as he continued to speak.

“I opened up every hole in my body and when those were filled, I created more.” John eventually made his eyes look into her’s, looking almost crazed as he told his story and seemingly enjoying the sight of her chest for a moment. He finally back up enough to make her a little less uncomfortable, this time his face was looking pleased again. “But it was Joseph who showed me just how selfish I was being.”

Her heart started to race as she noticed him grabbing a bowl with a sponge. He grabbed the sponge within the bowl, wet with something, and came close to her again to rub the wet sponge again her chest. What she assumed was water wet her chest, some of it running down to her breasts. Abigail started to squirm in her chair, hating how close John was, how strangely perverted his eyes were looking at her chest as he made it wet with his sponge, yet still talking.

“Always receiving. Always taking. The best gift isn’t the one you get, it’s the one you give and giving takes courage. The courage to own your sin.” He spoke as Abigail started to struggle more and more as his strokes with the sponge across her chest became slightly more aggressive, making her chest and breasts even more wet then before.

Relief washed over her as John finally backed up and walked away, still continuing his speech as he returned to the tool table and turned to look at her again. “To etch it on to your flesh and carry its burden and when you have endured—when you have truly begin to atone—to cut it out like a cancer and display it for all to see. My god that’s courage.”

It was then did Abigail finally realize who the other person was. With John finally out of her sight and her eyes adjusted to the lighting, she noticed Hudson, tied up to the chair and gagged with duct tape like she had been in his commercial. Her heart sank seeing Hudson like this again, but now at least she finally found her and she made a promise to herself to get them out of this somehow.

“I’m going to teach you courage.” John’s voice started up again, catching her attention once more as he grabbed a knife off the table making her tense. “Teach you how to say ‘yes’ so you can confront your weakness. Confront your sin.” He continued starting to yell as he paced back and forth across the room between Hudson and her. “You will swim across an ocean of pain and emerge…free. For only then can you truly begin to atone.” He pointed the knife at her, coming towards her with it still pointed at her until the tip of the blade slightly dug into her shoulder making Abby hiss a little in pain.

He walked back to the table, leaning against it with the knife up in the air. “So…who wants to go first?” When neither Hudson nor Abigail said anything, he asked again more aggressively, “Which one? Hm?” He stared at her directly as though he expected her to be the one to speak up and volunteer to go first.

“This is lesson number one.” He stated, speaking louder as Hudson started to scream in a mixture of anger and fear. “Someone’s got to choose!” He spoke louder, more angry then before. Abigail knew the game John was playing and she refused to be a part of it. She was fearful that John would go after Hudson if she didn’t speak up, but by the way the man was staring at her with such intent, she already knew what he wanted. Hudson couldn’t answer because of her gag; Abigail was the only one able to choose. She knew what he wanted, he wanted her to utter his favorite word, to feel like his speech had any purpose to encourage her to obey him and beg him to hurt her so she could start to ‘heal’.

She glared at John, challenging with her eyes, not giving him the satisfaction of hearing her say anything. That must have told him that he wasn’t going to get anything out of her because his rage took over making him quickly turn around to the tool table to flip it over making her cringe. He turned to her in his rage and shout, “For fuck’s sake, we’ll start with you!”

He came towards her, quickly lowering himself by bending over and putting his hands on his knees to look her directly in the eyes. “You won’t regret this, I promise. Now before we begin…” He cut himself off with a sideways smile before he began to back away.

“I think it’s only proper that Deputy Hudson goes back to her room.” He turned to walk directly to the tied up Hudson and walked around to grab the back of her chair. “Confessions are supposed to be private after all.” With a sudden push, John began pushing Hudson towards Abigail. Hudson started to scream violently through her gag which made John slow down once he was near Abigail so they could look each other in the eye. “Shhhh….shhhh….I am not here to take your life. I’m here to give it to you.” He spoke to her before looking at Abby as though his words were meant for her as well.

John came closer to her again, pushing the lamp on the table out of his way so his hands could wrap themselves around Abigail’s neck to squeeze it, slowly tightening his grip and cutting off more of her air as he spoke. “I’m going to open you and pour your worse fears inside and as you choke, your sins will reveal themselves.” Abigail began to struggle, feeling her lungs and throat start to burn as she became desperate for air. She could hear Hudson screaming through her gag alongside John’s words “Only then will you truly understand the Power of Yes.”

When he finally let go of her, Abigail gasped for air, panting hard as her throat dried like she was dying of thirst and burn like fire was shoved down in it. He grabbed the back of Hudson’s chair again. Hudson looked at Abigail as though she was fearful more for Abby than she was herself just before John wheeled her away through the door behind her with the words, “I’ll be right back”

Abigail tried to turn to see the door behind her but just hearing it slam shut was enough to tell her just how heavy that door was, telling her that going backwards wasn’t going to be an option. She looked around, trying to figure out a way to escape while she had the chance, but it took her a minute to soothe the panic that was making her thoughts a mile a minute. She had to think clearly to do this right or it could be her only chance of escape. Abigail focused on breathing until her thoughts were slowed before finally attempting to shake her restraints, pulling and struggling to see if they would give at all. The only thing that achieved was rope digging into her skin and making it raw. She tried to see if there was anything she could cut herself free with somehow, but nothing that could do it would work with the limits she had.

Then she saw it, pass the now flipped tool table, she saw a set of stairs down that it originally covered up. She tested to see if her chair could roll like Hudson’s did with jerking her upper body forward. When her chair moved forward, Abigail laughed like she was crazed as desperation to get free started to take hold of her. Oh John, you dumb ass. He shouldn’t have tied her to a chair with wheels. People do crazy things when they’re desperate and she was going to throw herself down a set of stairs.

There was a chance this plan would backfire. The impact should break off at least one arm of the old metal chair, allowing her to free her hands and feet and just hope there’s somewhere she could go to escape from there. However, if the arm didn’t break because the impact wasn’t enough or she lands wrong, that would be the end of her. She had to try regardless, this was her only chance and she prayed somehow this crazy idea would work.

She jerked herself towards the opening to the stair case, almost making herself fall face flat on the ground, another risk that could screw her, but she almost made it. Abigail stared down the set of stairs, hating herself for what she was about to do to herself, but she had no choice in the matter. She counted down, preparing herself for the pain that was going to come. Right when she made it to three, she jerked one last time, forcing her chair over the first step of the stairs and sending her falling down.

Abigail cried out, her body aching and hurt from the impact of the steps hitting her body when it didn’t hit the chair until she made it to the ground. She groaned, forcing herself to move quicker than she wanted to. She ended up landing on the side like she hoped she would, but her heart sank when she saw the metal arm of the chair didn’t break. However when she tried to pull, she noticed it gave a bit, seemingly loose as the impact fractured part of the metal. There was still hope. Abby tried to struggle, hoping to snap off the arm. She closed her eyes, starting to trash around wildly and felt the metal arm give more and more. Just as she was about to break the arm off, a familiar sharp pain shot through her exposed arm as a tiredness washed over her.

“Going somewhere Abigail?” John grinned from the top of the stairs, a smoking gun in his hand. “Take another nap and we can start again. This time…I won’t be leaving you alone.”


	8. Chapter 8

Her entire body ached and burned, her head throbbing even more intensely than the last time she was shot by a bliss bullet. Her neck and head pulsed along with her heartbeat as she opened her eyes slowly. Her vision took a moment to clear up, seeing a figure sitting in a chair near the medical table that stood next to her. The lights in her eyes were blinding, but soon both them and her vision cleared up to fully reveal who she shared the room with.

The figure was none other than John Seed, seemingly keeping to his word that she managed to hear before she blacked out again. He didn’t seem to notice Abigail coming to yet, his focus being consumed by the book in his hands. There was a peaceful and content look on his face that, for a moment, made him look like a normal, sane man. However he was far from that. The man who sat before her was a monster, a sadistic psychopath, and one of the many sons of the devil himself.

She tried to move and adjust the way she was sitting without even thinking about it, her body attempting to make the soreness and pain be a little bit more bearable, but noticed that her movement was restricted thank to the fact her hands were still tightly tied to a metal chair. The chair itself was so uncomfortable on its own, but her sore wrists and aches made it that much more unbearable. Abigail let out a little groan when her body jerked from the move attempt and it seemed to be just enough to grab John’s attention.

He looked up from his book, a little grin growing on his face as he saw Abigail becoming fully awake again after her escape attempt. “You’re finally up. Good.” He spoke, sounding like a concerned friend more than her torturer as he shut the book in his hands. He got up from his chair, placing his book down on the medical table before grabbing that same chair and moving it directly before her so he could sit directly in front of her. He took a seat again and leaned forward in his chair, putting his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. “So…how are you feeling after your little…attempt…?”

“Like you give a damn, but feeling like shit.” Abigail replied coldly trying to adjust but failing to do so with her limited movement. She looked down at herself, her chest and bra still exposed, “And violated…”

That remake managed to make John grow a sideways smile and a shake of his head, “Don’t flatter yourself. The old me might have an interest in what I see, but I’m only concerned with your confession.”

Abigail’s unconvinced face at his response must have humored him, because a silent chuckle left his lips and a gentle shake of his head. “Abigail you could be a charming lady if you didn’t suffer from so much sin and so many demons.”

“And you could be a decent person if you didn’t enjoying kidnapping, torturing, and drugging people so much.” She remarked sarcastically “But while it’s on my mind, how the hell do you know my name?”

John looked pleased at her question, seemingly always happy to talk about himself and gloat about getting an upper hand on her. “I have my connections Miss Abigail Marie Winters.” He grinned; amused to finally get to show off all the information he had on her. Her glare grew more intense as she heard her full name on his tongue. “I know you were born in Nacogdoches, Texas. You’re 27 years old. You did well in training for the academy, not top of the class, but notable. High school was similar for your freshmen and sophomore years, but something happened and your junior and senior years made you barely graduated high school. I wonder why that is…” John went on, his voice becoming more menacing. The more he went on, the more uncomfortable Abigail became. “Your mom was a nurse and your father was in the police department. He was a well respected officer. However, your father was reported killed in action…and not long after your mom started gaining a criminal record, mostly petty crimes, but eventually something…interesting.”

“Okay okay, I get it. You know everything about me...” Abigail spoke up, clearly uncomfortable and trying to hide the hurt in her eyes. It hurt being reminded of her past, something she was trying to move on from, but John bringing it up only made it worse. She was terrified about how easily he found out all these things about her, but it only pissed her off that much more to see that smug look on his face about it. The last thing she wanted John to know was anything he thought he could try to use against her, but it seemed like he had more than enough to get under her skin.

“Oh…not everything. Just things in records, the rest…I’ll need you to confess. I can see the demons are starting to hurt you just from me bringing these things up. Just confess and you’ll feel so much better to admit your sins and let me help you heal.” John spoke, sounding like a genuinely concerned for her despite seeing a sick pleasure in his eyes.

That sparked rage deep within her chest. “The fucking balls you have right now.” She growled, “You really think me “confessing” to you of all people will heal me? If I’m telling this shit to anyone it’s a therapist, not a cultist that’s just gonna torture me for being a fucking person.”

“That rage…” He grinned with a look of thrill in his eyes, “I know that well, you’re hurt, something…or someone hurt you. Perhaps we’re not so different Abigail.”

Abigail chuckled at that, “Oh we’re nothing alike. I don’t get off on torturing people and if you think torturing will get me to ‘confess’ then we’re gonna be here for a long time because I won’t talk.”

John simply grinned at her, “Call it what you will, but you will confess to me. You can relax though; I won’t need to hurt you to make you confess to me.”

That alone made Abigail pause and look at John suspiciously. What the hell did that mean? What game was he playing? Abigail was more than prepared to take any pain John was going to inflict on her, but now she didn’t know what to expect. Did he think she was just going to willingly talk to him at some point? Just like that? No, there had to be something else, this had to be a trick to take her off guard or a bluff. There’s no way a man who enjoyed hurting people like this would be able to control himself long enough from hurting her. After all she did, he probably wanted to kill her right here and he should, because once she gets out of here she's gonna put a bullet between those pretty blue eyes. 

Her expression must have given away her thoughts because John just smiled at her and got up from his seat. “I already know the kinda woman you are Abigail. Pain won’t make you talk, you’re too strong willed for that and that kind of treatment would only make you hate me more and steel your resolve.” John started to lean closer to Abigail’s face with a look in his eyes that made her wish she could step back from him.

“No…I have…other ideas to make you reveal your sins to me if you keep being so prideful.” He practically whispered as grabbed her chin and lifted her face to look up at his as he brought his face so close to her that she could feel his breath against her skin. Her face started to turn red, trying to turn her face away from him, but his hand made sure her face stayed still. “You WILL confess to me whether you want to or not.”

There was a predatory look in his eyes along with a desire that made Abigail squirm in her chair. Yet, there was something that made her feel even worse. Between her legs, she could feel something stirring inside her that made her feel ashamed of herself. This man was a sadist and hurt so many innocent people, yet, feeling his intense gaze upon her and feeling his warm breath against her skin with his lips inches away from her’s did something to her. It’s been so long since she’s had any contact like this and she damned herself for it and her body’s natural reactions. It didn't help that John happened to have a handsome face and a body that she often found attractive...that and she had a weakness for men who could charm a snake and have such a powerful aura about him. All that was coming to bite her in the ass, but she wasn't going to let him know about it. The second he found out, John would make her want to kill him that much more without having to put a finger on her. 

Just before their lips could meet, John pulled away with a smug grin on his face. Abigail’s face was red with embarrassment and even anger which only made his smile grow. “But for now…I think we’ve talked enough for today. You need rest, not from a bliss bullet that is. We can talk some more tomorrow and we’ll see if we can get any confessions out of you then.”

Abigail wished she could punch that damn sly grin off his face. She struggled in her bindings a bit uselessly, her face still red and anger burning in her chest. All this did was make John look even more pleased and excited to see her without any sass left in her. His eyes slyly gazed down at her exposed chest and grew a sideways smile. She glared at him, even more convinced then before that what he said earlier wasn't true and made her that much more uncomfortable. She watched as John pulled his vest off of himself, tossing it down on the medical table and started undoing the buttons on his shirt. Slowly, as each button opened, Abigail saw more and more of John’s chest and eventually his stomach. Damn it, he had tattoos too...another weakness of her's. 

Her face had started to dim down, but watching him work made the redness return, “What are you doing?” She asked cautiously, partially worried about asking in the first place.

John undid the last button and started to open it, allowing her to get a full look at his chest. The man was a lot more in shape then she expected. She could see his strong muscles lining and detailing his torso along with a lot of small tattoos that decorated his skin. Right across his chest was a tattooed “Sloth”. Her eyes naturally wondered to see the detailed V muscle that was cut off by his jeans and just above his belt was another tattoo that caught her eye, “Lust”. If her face could get any redder then it would have than just from the implication alone. He seemed to enjoy her wondering eye, knowing that it wasn’t something she could help. As he opened up his shirt to pull it off, she noticed more tattoos covering his arms, allowing her to also see the “Wrath” along his ribs and the “Greed” along his inner forearm. Why did she have to have a weakness to tattoos?

“I can’t let you go out there looking like that.” He spoke, breaking her trance. “We may be people of God, but men, and even some women, may get impure thoughts looking at you. Even the most devoted can be…tempted by alluring things.” He grinned, giving her a sideways glance before fully taking his shirt off, folding it over his arm, and walking back to her.

“Now…I will have to untie you to cover you up. Can I trust you to not try to kill me?” He question, speaking to her like she was a troublesome child. “I think it would be rather pleasant to be able to walk you out to your resting quarters too, but if you’re going to be wrathful again, then I will wheel you out as you are for everyone to see.”

Abigail was quiet for a moment before opening her mouth.“I won’t make any promises…but I wouldn’t mind being covered honestly.” She replied reluctantly. She didn’t want to be obedient to John or resist attacking him when she had the chance, but she had no real choice. It was this or let everyone in the bunker see her goods after getting stared at and teased by John and that wasn't something she was particularly interested in enduring today.

John grabbed a nearby knife and brought it to her wrists. “Try not to move too much.” He added put before starting to cut her bindings off.

Her wrists practically sang with relief as the scratchy, tied, and uncomfortable rope off of her. They still left their mark behind on her though with her wrists looked red and bruised. When both her hands were free, John stepped back, keeping the knife in his hand, but raised both his hands up to show he wasn’t going to attack her. Much to her surprise, Abigail’s first move after being freed was to rub her wrists to try to ease the pain a bit. She thought her first instinct would be to lash out at the man before her, but it seemed like her body just wanted a place to rest and lick her wounds.

John seemed pleasantly surprised as well as a little, a genuine smile grew on his face. He waited until he was convinced that Abigail wouldn’t attack before he got closer to her again and got down on his knees. At first, Abigail was shocked to see him get down in front of her after freeing her hands, but as he started cutting the bindings off her feet, forgetting that her feet were even tied due to the lack of vision. Thanks to her jeans, it was harder for her to feel the rope against her ankles and the pressure became so familiar there that she completely forgot her legs were bound as well. There was a moment that John looked up at her after freeing one leg and they just looked at each other. Abigail hated to admit it, but she felt a pull towards him and it looked like he felt it too just by the way he was looking up at her with a fascinated look. She hated that she was getting lost in those admittedly beautiful blue eyes, but she couldn't help it in the moment he seemed to stare into her own and getting just as lost. For a moment, Abigail thought he looked like he wanted to do something, but stopped himself to instead cut her other leg free.

Only when both her legs were free did Abigail feel how tense and tight her legs were. She waited until John got back on his feet again before she even attempted to stand up again. Her legs were sore and almost refused to work for her, but like a newborn deer she eventually got her strength back. With a new strangely intimate silence between them, Abigail turned around finding it strange how’s she was so willingly okay with turning her back towards John Seed himself. She felt John’s hands touch her shoulders as a soft shirt came over her shoulders. He held her as she fed her arms through the sleeves and pulled the open ends close together to cover her chest. She looked down, buttoning up the shirt slowly as the smell of expensive fresh cologne washed over her. It was when she was about half way up buttoning the shirt did Abigail realize John’s hands were no longer touching her shoulders, but instead held her hips. Her heart started to race as she looked over her shoulder and saw John’s face close to her. There was conflict in his eyes as she still worked the buttons to conceal herself. Abigail had a hard time breaking their eye contact, but she forced herself to, feeling herself growing a desire to do something she would regret.

“Thank you…” She whispered softly, trying to not think about how close he was and how his hands holding her hips was stirring her up in a way she was ashamed of.

“ Of course…” He whispered back, sounding conflicted for the first time as he reluctantly pulled his hands off of her. “Come…we’ll talk more tomorrow.”


	9. Reunited

Abigail’s heart was pounding in her chest as John escorted her through the underground bunker. Luckily, he had a spare shirt in The Confession Room in case the one he usually had on got…dirty while he was helping people confess to their sins. They passed by a few cultists as John escorted her through the bunker who eyed her with disgust or suspicion. They all knew who she was and she was wearing John’s shirt which wasn’t a good look, but it was better than walking around with her bra out in the open. John duck taped her hands together to mostly pleased any cultists they walked by, but it was noticeably done lightly. However, it seemed even with the precaution, John’s followers weren’t happy to see her.

There was a strange tension between them as John walked beside her with a hand tightly gripping her arm, just a tad bit behind her to avoid bumping into her if someone was coming down the narrow halls. It wasn’t the angry or hateful tension she grew accustomed to, but one that made her even more uncomfortable. Even John seemed a little off now and that alone made Abigail all the more nervous. They didn't speak and when Abigail looked behind herself to look at the man who escorted her, she quickly found herself looking away the moment their eyes met. She hadn't felt this off around a guy since she was in high school on her first date with a cute guy. Things got weird between them since they left The Confession Room. He got so close to her, the smell his cologne washing over her, the phantom touches of his hands on her hips, it was all pretty overwhelming and she didn't much care for the way her body reacted to these things. Normally, it wouldn't have been such a big deal, but this was John fucking Seed. The last thing she wanted was to melt to her knees for a man like him. 

Luckily, the awkward silent walk wasn’t one that lasted long. They approached a room with jail like cells that a cultist was more than happy to open the heavy door to when he saw the company John had with him. As they stepped inside, she quickly noticed Hudson sitting on the cot that was the cold, dark cell’s only furniture within her own cell. Seeing them though, made Joey jump up and run to the bars of her cell with an excited look to see Abigail, but her expression soured not only from John’s presence, but when she noticed that Abby had John’s shirt on her. Abigail wasn't proud of the look of her in John's shirt to the point she looked a bit embarrassed to have Joey see her like this, but she had plenty to tell Hudson once John left them.

John used a set of keys on his hip to open up the door to the cell that would allow her to see and talk to Hudson and she didn’t know if he did it intently or accidentally. He gently pushed her inside before stepping in himself to pull out a knife and cut her hands free of the duck tape rather easily given how little effort he put into the restricting her hands. John paused with a knife in one hand and holding her arm in the other, looking at her for a second with eyes that made her that much more uneasy for reasons that looked more caring than murderous. His hand holding onto her arm, slid down to briefly touch her hand, hesitant to let go of it before opening his mouth to speak with more force and venom then he usually needed to use, “We’ll talk more tomorrow snake. I’ll get you to confess soon enough.”

With that, the John she knew showed himself again in his eyes and despite the murderous intent she saw in his eyes, she still felt strange for there was still a hint of something more within them. It was really odd to think that she was more comfortable with seeing John looking at her with the intent to hurt her than it was to see him with some...humanity in them. He stepped out of the cell, closing it behind him. He turned to face her one more time as he locked the door, his eyes looking at her one last time before he seemingly forced himself to walk away. When she heard the sound of the heavy door open and close again, she knew that he left them and Abigail finally allowed herself to take a breath. She sighed, closing her eyes, and folding her hands on the top of her head to start pacing her cell, not ready to sit down again just yet as her thoughts started to race so intensely that it was like she wasn't thinking at all.

“What the hell happened to you Rook? And why the hell are you wearing that bastard’s shirt?” Hudson asked aggressively in a way that took her off guard, but more out of fear more than anything.

“Honestly, I’m not even sure myself Joey.” She replied, looking towards Hudson with a whirlwind of emotions in her voice. “I…don’t know what kind of game he’s playing, but it’s one that scares me. The shirt is just because he ripped my shirt open to torture me, but it seemed more like a scare tactic and wanted to cover me up before walking me through the bunker to put me here.”

“Oh thank god. I’m not gonna lie I thought the guy fucked you or something.” She sighed in relief.

“What, no!” She looked at Hudson with wide eyes and disbelief in her voice, stopping her pacing to give Hudson that look. “Why the hell did you think that?”

“You’re wearing the guy’s shirt, he’s a attractive, charismatic, sleaze bag, and you came out looking a lot better than most people do, come on…” Hudson explained herself with a bit of a sassy tone to her voice.

Abigail couldn’t argue with her logic. She knew it all added up to something bad if none one else was there to see it for themselves, but she couldn’t help herself from feeling a bit offended that Hudson thought she’d stoop so low.

“Okay fair enough, but I swear I didn’t…” Abigail insisted with a sigh, starting to pace a little again with anxiety, “He just tried to scare me to get me to talk…that was it.”

“Well, judging by what he said sounds like he didn’t get that much out of you. That’s weird though…normally he’ll torture the fuck out of those he can’t get to talk. Hell, he's even killed a few that really pissed him off. Wonder what makes you different.” Hudson thought aloud, walking away from the steel bars as starting to pace as she thought.

Abigail stopped her own pacing as a memory popped back into her head, “At the Cleansing…Joseph showed up…”

“Wait, Joseph Seed showed up?” Hudson asked, her gaze returning to Abby.

“Yeah…and he told John that if he didn’t help me atone ‘the Gates of Eden would be closed to him’.” She recalled with her concern and confusion growing more intense.

“Shit…sounds like he has a lot riding on you converting to the cult, he’s probably playing things differently knowing he can’t throw his tantrums like he usually does…Joseph probably wants you for all the trouble you’ve been causing, but honestly anything is on the table when it comes to that psycho.” Hudson scoffed, leaning up against the wall. “This fucking family…”

Abigail paused, taking a breath before coming up to the steel bars to look at Hudson with more concern, “How about you? You look pretty beat up…”

Joey waved her hand dismissively, “It’s not that bad…really. I can tell John wanted to hurt me more than he did, but now that you’re here I finally know why. He wanted use me to get to you.”

Abby sighed, walking to the back of her cell to lie down on the cot, “Yep…and I fucking fell for it.”

______________________________________________

What the hell was coming over him? What was this pull that he was feeling towards the Deputy? Even as he walked through his bunker’s halls, he wanted to go back to her. The further he got from her, the more she started to plague his mind. The way she looked at him, the way her face turned red, the way her chest rose and fell with each breath, it captivated him. John tried to tell himself it was nothing more than a fascination with something that actually challenged him. However, the man he used to be knew what this was. That fire in her eyes was entrancing, she looked so wild, yet when he got too close, teased her, or even showed her kindness, she looked so ashamed and scared of herself. It was an intoxicating sight. She was like a caged tiger, but the slightest bit of intimacy turned her into a mouse and something about it just…excited him. He could feel the sin that was carved into his lower stomach start to burn and his face grew the slightest bit more heat than usual.

John kept his eyes low to the ground, his thoughts becoming a whirlwind of confusion and concern as his past sins started to show themselves once again. His intention was to see potential ways of getting to her without doing what he truly wanted to do. Joseph’s threat to shut Eden’s Gates off to him changed everything. He couldn’t risk hurting her or letting his anger get to him, despite how often she tested it. He thought perhaps making her ashamed of a sin a lot of men and women were victims to would be a good start, just anything to prove that something could get to her. Yet, as he stared into those embarrassed and shameful eyes, something within him just found himself attracted to them. Her lips barely parted and her face red made sinful thoughts and desires resurfaced within him. Just thinking about it again stirred him up in ways that made him ashamed.

This woman killed Faith, took her entire region, took out a good chunk of his region and wasn't going to stop until everyone in their following was either killed or too weak to fight back against The Resistance. Yet, he thought of sinful things when his thoughts turned to her. He was even tempted to look at her exposed chest in an inappropriate manner despite all the teachings and warning Joseph gave him. For a split second when he touched her shoulders to cover her, he was tempted to wrap his arms around her and go to hold them as his lips got closer to kiss her…

John shook his head, chasing those thoughts away before his body started to reflect his thoughts in noticeable ways. He didn’t know how he was going to get through this sudden and strange desire, but he might of found a way to get his little bird to sing for him, one way or another.

“Something on your mind little John?” A familiar voice spoke out seemingly out of nowhere, breaking John out of his own head.

He looked up to see Jacob standing before him, coming out of the intersecting hallway that he was approaching. Why the hell was he here? Jacob never came here. He was always too busy with his experiments or searching for the Whitetail's hideout to make a trip all the way down here. Joseph he made time for and their middle brother visited him far more often than Jacob did. Normally John had to come to him for the few times that John wanted to speak with their eldest brother. Jacob coming to his bunker though? There had to be a reason for his unexpected visit and it didn’t take John long at all to think of one.

“I just got done with introducing the Deputy to how things are going to be around here. It won’t take me long to make her confess.” John replied making himself sound more confident than he really was.

“Really now?” Jacob grinned, walking closer to properly talk to his brother as he folded his arms. “That’s good news…and you’ve done it all on your own. I’m proud of ya.”

John forced a smile, but Jacob’s fake and even undermining praise only made his blood boil even more. “I told you I’d be fine.”

“I see that. Well I wanted to see it with my own eyes. Where is she anyways?” Jacob asked with a cunning look in his eyes and a grin that only made John that much more suspicious of him.

There it is. John suspected as such. Jacob wanted to see the Deputy himself, for what reason, he still wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t going to be anything that would make him happy. That much he did know.

“She’s in her cell, safe and sound. I’m letting her rest for now. I was pretty rough on her, but I don’t want to break her. Joseph wants her after she confesses so he can handle things from there personally, so I didn’t want to deliver her too banged up.” John explained putting a hand on his hip with a confident and smug grin on his face.

“Good. Joseph will be please for sure.” Jacob genuinely smiled before coming closer to give John to stand beside him, wrapping his arm around John’s back, and pulling him close for a partial hug before using that same arm arm to force John to walk with him. “I’m proud to hear you’re able to fight your sins for something Joseph has a personal interest in. Once you deliver the sinner to him, your place in Eden’s Gate will be cemented and Joseph will never doubt you again.”

John knew he should expect something off with Jacob’s praise but with his genuine smile and proud tone along with the most affection he’s shown towards him in a long time, he just wanted to enjoy the moment with his brother for once. “It’s nice to hear you think so brother.” He smiled, “I hope Joseph can finally see that I’m worthy to be a part of this project. Once I’m done with this little one of course.”

Jacob gave John one last squeeze with his one arm wrapped around him before finally letting go. “Well…I came to see your glory with my own eyes and I’m glad I did. I’ll see myself out then. I’ll leave you to it, you have a lot of properties to take back now that our little problem is solved for the time being.” He smiled, “It was good seeing you this way John.”

With that Jacob walked down the hall he came from, leaving John to his devices once again. Part of John didn’t trust Jacob’s kindness that he just gave to him, but this was a great success for their following and one that Jacob doubted he could pull off on his own. The pride in his eyes and voice reminded him of times when their relationship wasn't so...strained. Back when John used to be so happy to see Jacob everyday. Back when Jacob was just a big softy when it came to his siblings. He may have been hoping that old Jacob had shown himself and maybe even started making a return. What he wouldn't give to have that again. Whatever the case was, John wasn’t going to let anything ruin his mood. Joseph wouldn’t doubt him anymore after today and that alone was worth all the trouble he was going to go through to break the Deputy with minimal damage. For once, John felt confident and optimistic of his future.


	10. The Great Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying the story so far, it's almost nothing like how I originally imagined it. Let me know if you're enjoying the story so far! I promise smut will be coming soon in a couple more chapters!

Abigail awoke to find herself back in the green fog she’s come to expect with every time she found herself asleep. An irritated sigh left her lips as she prepared herself for the worst. After having the day she had, the last thing she needed was Faith forcing her to revisit the memories she really didn’t want to visit. However, being unable to just sit and wait for anything to come to her, Abby found herself wondering through the endless fog. There was nothing else she could do at the moment and she knew she was just going to have to endure what her dream had in store for her. She didn’t have a way out of these dreams until they were done with her, for the time being at least. The only thing she could do was wait for whatever nightmare to show up before she could finally wake up and endure another painful memory that would haunt her in the waking world. 

Slowly, the further she walked, the more the fog slowly started to manifest into the familiar forest that always made an appearance in her bliss dreams. The forest itself was probably one of the only things about her dreams that were actually pleasant. If it was just a forest she saw in her dreams, then maybe she would of welcomed these dreams, but this forest often brought nothing but horrible memories. As trees and tall grass started to form around her, Abigail let out her hand to let it gently glide over low hanging leaves and the top of tall grass. Bliss flowers started to join the plant life all around her. While she often associated bliss flowers with Faith and her drugs, she couldn’t deny they were a pretty flowers and while she was in this dream, she was going to enjoy their beauty while the world was still peaceful.

Just as she encountered the edge of a river these peace that flowed through her suddenly soured. This was the place where she killed Faith and Abigail was a bit relieved to see it again. The last thing she needed was to see Burke and Virgil die again. Faith, she could deal with. Yet, Faith didn’t come. By now, she would be listening to Faith’s dying speech as she tried to manipulate her for the last time, but all she saw was the edge of the river. Something was off and it was starting to make Abby more and more anxious each second Faith failed to show up. She looked around a bit confused, even looked behind herself to see if Faith was coming or if there was something she was missing. However, when she looked back to the river, the one person she didn’t want to see: Joseph Seed.

The Father himself stood before her with a look of peace and a sinister happiness on his face. A chill ran down her spine the second she saw him, staring where Faith normally did. She didn’t understand why Joseph of all people was here. During her bliss trips Joseph showed himself to her with Faith often being the one guiding her to him, but he was the last person she expected to show up in these dreams. Her dreams were nothing but memories up until this point. Just when she thought she was starting to understand what was happening to her, Joseph had to show up and derail any understanding she managed to have. 

He simply stared at her with those soul piercing eyes for what felt like minutes before lifting his hands up to towards her, slowly stepping closer until his hands reached her face. Abigail tried to jerk away, but her body was frozen. She struggled trying to move away from Joseph invasive touch, but she couldn’t even more a finger. Seeing the confusion in her face made him grow a grin as his rough hands touched her cheeks. Joseph opened his mouth to softly speak with eyes that grew more affectionate then she cared to ever see them. “You look so much like her…”

His words only made her more confused. Who the hell was he talking about? Faith? That was the only "her" that came across her mind that he could be referring to, but knowing the man before her, it could be anything. Her questions wouldn’t get an answer immediately because along with her stillness, she was made into a mute.

“I saw her in you at the Cleansing. I see the potential for you to become her. John did well capturing you, but I eagerly await have you to myself…you will give back what you took from us…” Joseph paused, leaning in closer, making Abigail even more desperate to get away from him. He got close enough to her, much like how John did earlier, bringing his lips closer to her own soft lips. Just before he could let his lips touch her, he stopped, his half closed eyes looking conflicted just before he brought his lips up to her ear. “You will become my Faith, my judge...even stronger than before and you will be so beautiful…”

Joseph pulled away from her, slowly walking back to give more distance between them. Much like Faith usually did in her dreams, Joseph started to walk back into the river’s cool water. Something strange happened as his feet touched the water. The water around his legs turned a deep red, slowly expanding to the entirety of the river. His hands slowly lowered to his side. “Do not fight your destiny Abigail…God wants you in my flock, with us. He showed me…abandon your path of destruction and join us…become our sister…”

He lifted his hands up into the air again; his arms wide open as though he expected her to run into his arms to join him in the red river. Suddenly, her frozen body started to move on its own, doing exactly what Joseph wanted her to do, running to him. Abigail fought and screamed for her body to stop, practically begged it to, but no matter how much she fought, her legs refused to listen. However, just before she made it to him, everything turned black.

______________________________________________

Abigail gasped, her eyes shooting open as she jerked awake. She panted, sweating, her heart pounding hard in her chest. What the hell was that? Why the fuck was Joseph in her dream? She never saw Joseph in her dreams before it was always Faith and, in the worst dream she had, Burke and Virgil. Never did she think man bun would invade her dreams, especially the way that he just did. What was he going on about? Give back what she took away? Become his new Faith? Become their sister? Her head was spinning and she didn’t know exactly what this fucker was planning, but she didn’t like the sound of it. Not one bit.

It took her a minute to calm down, realizing now that she was awake; she had other things to be concerned about. She looked around, concrete walls, uncomfortable cot, iron bars…yep, she was still in John’s bunker. A gentle sigh left her lips. She supposed there could be worse places she could have woken up, but this wasn’t much better either. However, something caught her eye. Her cell door didn’t look right. Her sharp eye spotted the lock to her cell door was undone, a little bit of space between the door and the next iron bar revealing fully that her cell door was unlocked....What was this?

Abigail thought her eyes might have been playing tricks on her, but she couldn’t risk passing up an opportunity if one was there. She knew for sure that John locked it behind her, she watched him do it. There wasn’t a chance in hell he would have walked away without being sure that she was locked inside without a chance of getting out. Yet, there was a slight, but noticeable sight of the door being open. Abigail cautiously got closer to her cell door, just in case this little glimmer of hope was a cruel trick from a hidden John testing to see if she’d flee at any given chance or something her racing thoughts conjured up after waking up from such a bizarre dream. Her hand touched the door and slowly opened it, hearing the soft squeaks of the hinges as she found herself stepping out of her cell.

Abby didn’t realize she was holding her breath as her foot stepped outside of her cell. Her heart was racing, any second a cultist or even John himself could walk through that door and catch her outside of her cell. Yet, she couldn’t help but be suspicious of the convenience of this. This was too perfect of an opportunity and John wouldn’t have made this mistake. Someone intently unlocked her door while she was asleep. She looked across the way to see Hudson sleeping within her own cell. Whoever did it did this after both of them were asleep and they didn’t want to be seen. Someone on the inside was helping her.

She checked Hudson’s door and saw it was locked shut. For some reason, they wanted her to go free, but not Hudson. Abigail hoped there was some sort of key that was left behind, something, anything that would help her get Hudson out along with her, but there was nothing. She felt her heart tear in two. Part of her didn’t want to waste this opportunity, but the other didn’t want to leave Hudson behind. Either way, she was going to have to make a choice and it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Hudson…Hudson…” She whispered, not wanting to be too loud to alert any cultists that might walk by the door. Hudson luckily must sleep lightly, at least while she’s here, because it didn’t take much to make her stir.

Joey opened her eyes reluctantly, but seeing Abigail so close to her cell made her wide awake in seconds. “Holy-” She almost shouted in surprise, but quickly stopped herself and lowered her voice as she got up from her cot. “Rook, how the hell did you get out of there?”

Abigail shrugged with a wild smile, “I didn’t. The door was just open.”

“What?” Hudson squinted at her with a suspicious tone, “Something’s up…”

“I know…I tried to see if I could get you out, but whoever opened my door just wanted me out. They didn't leave a key, lock pick, nothing, but they unlocked my cell.” Abigail explained, her torn heart starting to show itself in her voice.

“You can’t pass this up.” Hudson urged, “You have to get out of here. There’s something up, but you have to take this chance.”

“I can’t leave you here.” Abigail replied with hurt in her voice as she grabbed onto the bars of Hudson’s cell.

Hudson came up to the bars with fire in her eyes, “Yes you can and you have to Rook. Someone wants you out and you have to take it. At least one of us has to get out of here and they chose you, so get your ass out of here. John won’t kill me and he sure as hell won’t break me.”

Abigail knew Hudson was right. She couldn’t just stand here waiting for John to come and see her free. This was her chance to get back out there and do some real good. Besides, Hudson was the only thing that assured John that she’d be back. Hudson would be safe from death at least while she was gone, even if it hurt to put her in that situation. John would take his anger out on her, but she would be alive. Besides, she'll get her revenge for whatever he does to her by putting a bullet between those blue eyes. For now though, she needed to go and take advantage of the miracle that was given to her. 

“I’ll be back for you Hudson. You won’t be stuck here much longer.” She assured Hudson, putting on a confident grin.

Hudson returned her grin and gave her a nod, “I know. If anyone can do this Rook, it’s you.”

Abigail gave a nod, forcing a confident smile as she forced herself to let go of Hudson’s cell’s iron bars. She had to get going now, with every second she wasn’t trying to escape the more likely she’d be discovered before she even had a chance. She walked up carefully to the door that led out to the rest of the bunker, slowly opened it just enough to see that there were no cultists standing outside, and carefully slipped out, reluctantly leaving Hudson behind.

She crouched down, sticking close to the bunker hall’s walls and using the random crates and items that lined them to keep her hidden from plain view. Abigail didn’t have the luxury to take down every cultist that came her way this time. Without her weapons, she had to rely on her stealth alone to get her through this. It wasn’t just the lack of weapons that worked against her, it was the fact she had no idea how to navigate her way out of here. The chances of her making it out of here were decreasing by the second, but she didn’t have a choice. She had to keep going and if she’s lucky, she’ll eventually find her way outside. Once she did, Abigail knew she would be okay. She’d come back with a vengeance and she wasn’t going to leave without Hudson a second time.

Abigail felt like she was hiding and wondering the halls for an eternity. She managed to take out a couple of cultists that wondered down by themselves with no sign of anyone approaching with a quick and sudden twist of their necks. Suddenly, she was even more thankful that John’s bunker had a lot of things lining the walls because they made for good hiding places to move bodies out of sight while also eliminating potential threats. Slowly, but surely, she made her way through the bunker, making note of what hallways and paths she already took to narrow down her remaining choices. It was a time consuming and risky plan, but one that paid off.

As soon as she walked into an open room full of more crates, Abigail noticed there was a set of stairs leading upwards. A flutter of excitement rushed her chest, picking up her pace to reach the stairs. Her excitement got the better of her though and didn’t even take the time to realize there was a cultist passing through the hall, looking into the room and getting a glimpse of Abigail. She noticed too late as she turned to try to rush the cultist as he pulled up her radio and shouted, “The sinner! She’s escaping!”

She slammed herself into him, slamming him into the back wall, forcing the air out of the cultist’s lungs and quickly noticing the blade at his hip. While the cultist tried to recapture his breath, attempting to reach for his gun, Abigail quickly reached and grabbed the knife at his hip and quickly shoved the knife into the cultist’s throat. The cultist’s eyes widened, a gargling as blood filled her mouth just before she pulled her the blade free and watched his body slowly fall to the ground. Trying to think quickly while she had the chance, while managing to pull the cultist’s rifle off, arming herself with the weapon that would be the key to her making it out of here. She could hear the sounds of shouting voices coming towards her direction and quickly turned to make a run up the stairs.

There was no telling if the cultists knew exactly where she was yet or not thanks to the fact she managed to kill the one who spotted her before he could give away her exact position. However, she wasn’t going to stick around and find out. She ran as quickly up the stairs as she could without tripping until she finally felt the glorious sensation of a fresh breeze against her skin. The sky was dark with a beautiful pale moon lighting the sky. There was no telling how long she was down in that bunker, but damn it being outside again felt amazing. She felt so free after being trapped down in that dark and constricting bunker for God knew how long with fresh night air filling her lungs. Unfortunately, Abigail couldn’t take a second to enjoy it yet, not until she got the hell out of here.

There were cultists outside on look out and as soon as they spotted her, they pulled their guns up to take aim at her. Abigail was faster though, lifting her newly acquired rifle up and pulling the trigger before they had the chance to fire. She took down the few cultists that were on the ground, quickly running through the open area until she reached the chain link fence. She turned her back towards the fence, taking out a few cultists that were looking out on the bunker’s exposed roof, most likely already giving away that she made it outside through their radios. Abigail didn’t hesitate shooting them, not caring if they died or not, but wanting them down long enough for her to turn towards the fence and begin her climb.

Abigail climbed as quickly as she could up the fence. She could hear the voices of peggies yelling as they ran out from the bunker into the area. The second she heard bullets flying towards her, Abigail rushed herself to get the hell over the fence. She was exposed and vulnerable, but thankfully peggies didn't always have the best aim while panicking or trying to catch her. That was until she felt a sharp burning pain in her side. A gasp of pain escaped her throat as a bullet grazed her side, cutting into the shirt John loaned her. The way it loosely hung around her body prevented the cultist who shot her a good idea of where her side actually was, keeping him from getting a fatal shot or one that would make her drop. She didn't know if the graze was bleeding and getting on John's shirt or not, but right now that was the least of her worries, even if it did make her think of John for a second. In that very moment, she heard the voice of the very man who entered her thoughts shout out, “Stop you idiots! The Father wants her alive! I told you to use bliss bullets!”

Even though the bullets stopped, she didn’t stop climbing until she was over the top, one leg staying locked into the chain link fence while she swung the other over to the other side. Her eyes looked towards the open area and saw John running towards her direction while yelling, “Stand down you idiots! Stop shooting!”

The other cultists around him reluctantly lowered their weapons, some looking at each other with confusion or frustration. With none of them loaded with bliss bullets, John probably rather have her escape than killed. It wasn’t for anything noble, purely because Joseph wanted her alive. Abigail climbed completely over the other side, climbing down as quickly as she could despite no one actually pursuing her now, but noticing John was still coming her way. By the time she could safely jump down, John ran to up the fence and grabbed onto it tightly just as her feet touched the ground.

She didn’t know why, but the second she safely landed on the ground, she turned to look at John. Abigail knew she should be running, that looking back was only going to slow her down, but she just had to look at him. The look in John’s eyes as his fingers desperately held onto the fence took her aback. She saw nothing but a mess of emotions fighting in his gaze, anger, fear, pain, and hurt all of them spiraling within him. He reminded her of a scared kid rather than the monster she was so use to seeing. A pain struck her chest and suddenly, she started to feel the whirlwind John expressed in his eyes. Why was she hesitating? She had a impossible opportunity, yet, she hesitated to take it now that John looked at her.

The two of them simply looked at each other in silence as though they expected something to be said, but never was. John opened his mouth to say something, but closed it slowly. He wanted to say something, but stopped himself from saying it. Fear grew more intense in his eyes, but she wasn’t sure if it was fear of Joseph or fear of himself that made it grow so intense. Abigail forced herself to look away and made her legs run away from him, tearing herself away from the pull that tried to bring her back to him. She ran blindly into the forest, ignoring the pain in her side as much as she could, desperate to get away. Why the hell did she hesitate like that? John was a monster, yet seeing him look at her the way he did made her, for a split second, want to run back into his arms. What the hell was wrong with her?

She kept running, her mind at war with itself as she fled from the area as quickly as her aching legs would let her. Tears of frustration started to form in her eyes and she grit her teeth through the burning pain. Abigail slowly started to slow down her run down to a walk when she ran far enough. Her legs and lungs were burning, her wounded side starting to bug her more and more. After walking a bit more, she decided to stop to look at her wound. Abigail ran pretty far rather quickly and it was likely that John wasn’t going to send anyone after her just yet. At the very least he’d wait to make sure their guns with bliss bullets. So, she had a few minutes to spare to rest and look at her injury.

Abigail picked a random tree and sat down in front of it. She lifted her loaned shirt up, to try to get a look at her side as well as she could. She put on hand on the side of her breast to push it out of the way while also using it to hold up the excess and lifted her other arm up. She had to move her hip more to the side to get as good of a look at it as she could get. There was blood running down her hip. Thankfully it was merely a flesh wound, any deeper and she might not be as lucky. She lowered her shirt and sighed. There wasn’t much she could do about it now, but once she got to Fall’s End, then she could give it the attention it needed. It wouldn’t kill her, but it was gonna hurt like hell.

She took a breath, letting her head fall back against the tree she was resting against to let air fill her lungs despite it hurting her dry throat. The cool nightly air felt wonderful in her lungs, but her throat burned with each inhale. With the lack of food and water in her system, she was already struggling, her wound didn’t help either, but she had to keep going before John sent his men after her.

Suddenly, she heard a twig snap and she quickly jumped, making her hiss and grab her side but looking towards the sound. The first thing she saw was a pair of combat boots walking closer to her alongside two other sets. The light of a burning cigar between a set of lips was the only source of light for the face that came closer to her. A deep, dark chuckle rumbled from his chest as he stepped close enough for Abigail’s heart to drop. Standing before her was Jacob Seed himself with a dark enthusiastic look in his face. On either side of him were two cultists with their faces completely covered in red ski masks, expect for their eyes. They carried sniper rifles while Jacob carried one of his own. She didn’t like this one bit.

"Where you going, little snake?” Jacob grinned taking the cigar from his lips, smoke escaping his mouth. “You still have a confession to make.”

Abigail slowly got up from the ground, careful to not give them a reason to shoot her on the spot. “I’m not going back.” She challenged, readying herself to run at any second.

Jacob grinned at her, “Who said I’d take you back to John right away? I’m curious about you snake…I wanna get my hands on you.”

The way the words left his lips made a chill run down her spine and made her want to run even more. Jacob seemed to notice this increased desire as he opened his mouth to speak again, “Go ahead. Run, I want you too. It’s more fun that way. We’ll even give you a ten second head start.”

Abigail glared at him with challenging eyes. Part of her was tempted to reach for her rifle to mow them down while she could, but if these were the Hunters she heard so much about at his sides, she wouldn’t get the chance before they shot her. Running might be the only chance she could have to get out of this right now, but that didn’t mean her rifle couldn’t be useful afterwards.

“One…two…” Jacob started counting with a menacing grin and Abigail didn’t waste another second waiting around. The last thing she wanted to do was to play along with Jacob’s game, but she didn’t see any other opinion. She quickly started to run in the opposite direction, forcing herself to ignore her side screaming in pain and her aching legs. Abigail made an effort to avoid running in a straight line, trying to make her movements harder to predict. She had to be smart or else, she’d been in Jacob’s hands and she rather deal with John then his elder brother. John had a reason not to kill her, Jacob, was more than happy to.

Abigail counted the rest of her time in her head, trying to somehow out smart her enemy despite all her disadvantages. She’s tired, thirsty, hungry, and hurt, but luckily had a weapon. Jacob was hunting in a pack, a highly skilled pack. If she somehow made it through this, it would be a miracle, but she had to try.

When she counted her time being up, Abigail started to think. She could either keep running, hoping they couldn’t track her down or try to hide until she knew they were going in the wrong way or so far away she could run without them ever finding her. It was a risk, but Abigail decided to try to hide. She couldn’t keep running much longer, not in this state. Hiding was going to be her best bet. Suddenly, as she ran, the ground dropped out from underneath her. In her desperation to try to outsmart Jacob, she didn’t realize the way she was going had a sudden drop. Luckily for her, it wasn’t a deep enough one break any thing, but one that made her fall hard on her side. She gasped, struggling to keep herself quiet as she tried to roll herself onto her back when she noticed something. The drop off of land had an enough over hang above her that she might be able to use this to her advantage. She also noticed the ground under her was wet from recent rain and plenty of leaves from the trees surrounded the area.

Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, it was a risky one, but one that might save her life. She crawled closer to the drop off, pushing herself against the wall of it as she dug desperately into the wall, grabbing handfuls of mud to cover herself in. She covered her face, her clothes, her hands, arms, and legs. She pushed herself against the wall now with more room to snug herself into, grabbing armfuls of leaves to pull towards her, just enough to cover most of her body in hopes of hiding it as much as possible while using mud as camouflage against the drop off wall. Now she could do was wait and pray.

However, she didn’t have to wait for long to hear the sound of heavy boots crunch on leaves approaching. She heard a soft whistle from an uncomfortably close distance and the sound of people running towards her got louder. Abigail tried to control her breathing, her heart pounding in her chest. The drop off above her shook as heavy boots hit against it. Abigail covered her mouth, careful to not disturb the leaves around her as she tried to silence herself as much as possible. For what felt like minutes, she felt like a cornered rabbit hiding from wolves as she felt the looming presence of Jacob and his men above her.

Then without warning, the pair of boots that stood above her jumped down onto the ground before her, facing away from her. Abigail struggled to silence herself, praying they didn’t hear her somehow. The pair of boots stood there for a second, before running off with the sound of others joining it. Abigail waited a few minutes before starting to move again. She couldn’t see or hear the men anymore, feeling it was finally safe to come out so she could run the opposite way, hopefully losing them for good.

She slowly got out from her hiding spot, shaking off loose leaves as she got up from the ground. However, as soon as she turned, her eyes widened. Not too far from her was Jacob, his sniper rifle aimed to her with a wicked grin on his face.

“Nice try sweetheart.” He chuckled. Abigail reached for her rifle and tried to aim it at him, but before she could, Jacob put his finger on the trigger and fired.


	11. Cull the Herd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post! Life's been a little rough lately and I ended up losing track of time. I hope that this was worth the wait even if it's mostly cutscene descriptions. Stay safe out there!

Her vision kept going in and out, her eyes struggling to stay open. She couldn’t see where she was from the blur in her vision, but she got enough of her feeling back to tell she was being carried over someone’s shoulder. The only things she could process was the fact there was a light flickering and buzzing loudly alongside the sounds of a woman screaming in pure fear and agony. She could feel her body limply laying over a man's shoulder, someone who was strong enough to hold her weight with little effort. Her entire body was numb, barely able to move her fingers as her head throbbed in pain. The room started spinning as she heard heavy boots against a old creaking creaking wood floor and before she knew it, her eyes refused to stay open, slowly closing again as her vision went black again. 

A groan left her lips as a blinding light filled her vision making her eyes burn even worse than they already were. After a moment, the silhouette of a figure stepped into her vision, blocking out most of the blinding light and helping her blurry vision recover faster after being so harshly blinded. The figure was moving and while she didn't know what the hell was happening, it looked as though the figure was checking something that involved her. As her vision finally cleared, she slowly recognized the scared face in front of her as she felt something tightening around her sore wrists. Pratt…

She couldn’t understand what he was saying, her head still trying to clear up from being shot with another bliss bullet, but the look of fear in his face was enough to say it all. Pratt was the most skittish of their group, but she's never seen him this scared before. Why the hell Jacob had him, it was all up to speculation. The fact that Pratt looked so deathly afraid for her was enough to make anyone scared of what caused such a frightened look on his face. The light suddenly went out, blending Pratt into the darkness. When the light returned, Pratt was gone and a black and white picture of a rotten deer corpse illumined the wall in front of her. The unexpected image only caught her attention for a moment before she realized she wasn't alone. Two other people were strapped to chairs in front of her and as she looked down to her own wrists, she realized she was in the same situation as them. Fucking hell, the Seed brothers have a thing for strapping people in chairs don’t they? And shooting people with bliss bullets…

Her thoughts were interrupted with the sudden start of Jacob’s voice out of seemingly nowhere, “The world is weak. Soft. We have forgotten what it is to be strong is.”

She was plunged into darkness again as she heard the sound of the projector near her switching to the next slide. Another image lit up the wall, a wolf eating its kill, just as Jacob stepped into the light of it, cutting off most of the image in his shape, but finally allowing her to see him as he spoke.

“You know our heroes use to be gods. And now our heroes are godless.” Jacob spoke almost lifelessly as the image changed to another picture of a wolf eating its prey. Now she could see Pratt again as he slid a little more into the light, his hands holding themselves in front of his thighs, reminding her of a scared child.

“Weak, feeble, diseased. We let the weak dictated to the powerful and then we are shocked to find ourselves adrift.” He continued, another picture of a decayed deer covering the wall before changing to a wolf with a dead deer in his jaws. Jacob finally turned away from the wall to face them as he continued his well practiced speech.

“But history knows the value of sacrifice. Of culling the herd, so it stays strong. Over and over, the lives of the many have outweighed the lives of the few. This is how we survived. And we’ve forgotten…and the bill has come due.” Behind Jacob more pictures of bloody wolves changed periodically as he spoke. He slowly walked closer to her before being covered in darkness once again.

Suddenly, as the light returned, Jacob stood before her, looking directly at her now as he spoke. “Now, the Collapse is upon us, and this time the lives of the few outweigh the lives of the many.” Jacob leaned forwards, becoming more eye leveled to her as though speaking directly to her, his large calloused hands covering her small wrists using her to lean closer to her. Half of his face was lit up, but the other concealed in darkness. She could smell blood and death on him. 

“And when a nation that’s never known hunger or desperation descends into madness, we’ll be ready.” He eventually let go of her wrists, standing straight up again as his hand reached for something on the projector stand. He held it in his hands as he kept speaking, “We will cull the herd. We will do what needs to be done.”

She realized what was in his hands, a small wooden box. His hand started to wind up the box as he spoke, looking at her with a predatory glance that made her feel small. He grinned wickedly at her as one of his hands held out the box to her and the other opened its top. As he leaned it closer towards her, Abigail felt her eyes go wide. She stared into the moving gears, hearing them clicking together and suddenly she felt something deep and animalistic waking up inside of her. There was something wrong with this box, something evil about the way those gears turned. There was a slow, distorted, almost distant sound she couldn’t quite make out, but something about it just made her…angry.

Her vision went black again, the sounds of angry grunts and squeaking roared in her ears. It’s so loud. Why is it so loud!? It felt like her ear drums were going to explode and part of her welcomed that in order to cease this damn noise! When her vision returned, Jacob was nowhere in sight. The room was red and dark, like it was on fire, even little embers seemed to come from her, but Abigail couldn't tell if it was real or not. She wasn’t sure if anything she was seeing was real right now. The image on the wall was a red wolf growling at her. The two people that were strapped to chairs in front of her, violently tried to escape their bindings, but unlike them…she was already free.

There was a table in front of her with a gun on it. Her eyes locked onto the gun and looked at the people still bound tight to their seats. Something evil roared inside of her and she no longer had control over her own body. She had to survive. They had to die so that she may live. Abigail ran towards the pistol on the table, grabbing it. Just as she pointed her pistol towards them, the two people freed themselves, finding their own weapons. Just as a image of a decayed deer covered the wall, Abigail shot them both before they had a chance to take aim at her. Their bodies fell to the ground, becoming nothing but flames and ashes on the ground as Jacob’s voice suddenly came out of nowhere and sounding like he was in her head. “Excellent.” He purred loudly in her ears and his praise only excited her more.

Abigail ran down a hall, grabbing another pistol that waited for her with a light shining down upon it like God himself offered it to her. Ditching the old pistol in favor for this new one. This one was better, this one will help her survive. She turned out of the hallway, finding herself in a room that looked like the remains of a house, but in a way had a disorienting effect on her. She could hear the sound of a record player playing an old song she didn’t know, only adding onto the strange environment she found herself in. However, that wasn’t what she cared about. She saw people and had an intense need to kill them. They grunted the words repeating themselves in her own head: Prey, hunt, kill, sacrifice. They were her prey and she must hunt them, kill them and sacrifice them. She was strong, they were weak.

She shot each one of them without hesitation, climbing and jumping her way through the environment, never one showing mercy or giving them a chance to aim at her. “Good. Cull the herd.” She heard Jacob within her own head only encouraging her more. Abigail jumped over a hurdle and into another room. When she went inside, there was an image of a wolf again and a shotgun waiting for her. She traded her pistol for the shotgun and moved on, only thinking of the hunt.

There was a series of hallways intersecting with each other. It reminded her of a hotel’s hallways, but with designed like a labyrinth. There were streaks of blood on the floor and the words “Prey” and “Hunt” were painted on the walls. She wondered without a real direction down the halls, killing anyone she saw as she made her way through the maze. The music was getting louder. Why the hell was it so damn loud!? Turn that damn music down!

She managed to wonder out of the halls, somehow finding her way out and found herself in a massive room that looked like the gates of hell itself. The words “St. Francis Veteran’s Center” were on the gates. A fountain that wasn’t working anymore stood before the gates, but behind them was a building. The building looked like someone designed it wrong, it just looked…wrong and falling apart. Something about it unsettled her, but she pushed it aside. She couldn’t be weak, not for a damn second. Weakness meant death and she refused to die.

People started shooting towards her, but none of them landing a hit before she killed them. Once the room was cleared, Jacob praised her more. “Yes. Sacrifice the weak.” She only smiled at his praise, moving on to the next room to continue her hunt. She never felt so alive. The adrenaline pulsing through her made her feel like nothing could kill her and taking out lives that attempted to snuff out her own gave her a thrill unlike anything she's ever felt before. This must be how it felt like to be God! The next small hall had a rifle on display for her and she happily switched weapons once again. The next room looked similar to the other room that had the remains of a house, but this one was mostly staircases. She climbed up the stairs, shooting anyone in the way or in her sight, making her way through the room with ease. Her heart pounded in excitement. She felt so alive, so powerful. The room was on fire, but the fire only excited her more.

“Good” Jacob praised once she cleared the room and Abigail saw a ledge that led to her next destination. She jumped and landed perfectly before jumping down the metal shaft leading down into nothingness and everything went black again.

______________________________________________

Her eyes shot open, air suddenly sucking into her lungs like she hadn’t been breathing as she shot up into air. She felt something hold her shoulders and Abigail immediately lifted her arms to try to fight whoever was trying to hold her down. She heard a deep laughter as whoever had grabbed her shoulders before they let go of her to instead grabbed her fighting hands in their own much stronger and larger ones. Her mind was in such a blur, her body still fighting like her life depended on it. She screamed, kicking her legs to try to keep fighting, but whoever was holding her hands put their weight down on her, using their knees to pin down her legs painfully and making it impossible for her to free herself with her legs. Suddenly, whoever held her hands, forced them back on either side of her head, pinning her down to the hard wooden floor.

With her arms and legs pinned, Abigail grunted trying to still fight, but slowly her body started to come back to reality. She panted, her mind finally slowing down enough to see who it was that pinned her down. Abigail looked up to see Jacob’s face staring down at her with a look of pure delight in his eyes. He looked so happy, so excited, like he was in pure ecstasy and Abigail didn’t like it.

He deeply laughed, grinning down at her. “You...you were exemplary…” Jacob looked down at her with heated eyes, his hands holding down her own with his fingers interlacing with her’s. “I think I finally see what Joseph sees in you…and why John looked the way he did after spending some one on one time with you.”

Abigail struggled against him, only making him chuckle as he easily over powered her, but his words made her stop. “What the hell are you talking about?” She asked, frustrated and uncomfortable.

Jacob grinned, freeing one of her hands, but quickly grabbing her now freed hand with the other that already held her other hand to keep them both forced down just so he could have a free hand to touch her. His rough fingers traced the line of her jaw, sending chills down her spine. He ran his fingers down her throat, gently wrapping them around her neck and squeezing with enough pressure to barely cut off her air. Abigail’s face turned red as she tried to fight against him, embarrassed as feeling the pressure so expertly squeezed around her neck making her feel ashamed of the way her body naturally reacted. His fingers let go of her to run down her chest until his fingers touched the fabric of the shirt his younger brother had given her. He toyed with the top button, looking like he wanted to undo it before the door to the room opened.

The sudden noise of the metal door opening and the sounds of boots coming through forced both Abigail and Jacob to look towards it. He mumbled softly, just loud enough for her to hear, “Looks like our fun is done for now…he wants you back pretty damn bad.” He smiled, looking back down to her, “After seeing you work though…I can’t blame him. Now I kinda want you myself…”

Abigail looked up at Jacob with a mixture of confusion and discomfort. What kind of “want” is he referring to? Judging by the way he was looking at her, she was assuming one that made her uncomfortable. Just before either of them could say much more, a couple of peggies started to come into the room, with one holding the door open. They filed in professionally and obediently before the man they expected to arrive walked through.

John stepped inside, boots hitting the wooden floor below him heavily. He looked pissed off coming in, but seeing Jacob on top of her only seemed to make the anger in his eyes more intense. “Jacob…I’d like to have Abigail back in my possession…she still has to confess…” He spoke, sounding like he was attempting to sound unfazed, but failing to do so.

“Aw…already?” Jacob grinned playfully at his younger brother, “We were having so much fun…would have had more if you didn’t show up when you did.” That comment made John visibly angrier, but Jacob that seemed to be his intention. “After all I did to make this happen too. It wasn’t easy…”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Abigail cut in, confused by what exactly Jacob meant.

“He took my keys, pretending to visit me because he wanted to thank me in person, but all he cared about was getting you. He unlocked your cell…and you ran. Exactly as he wanted…” John explained more gently towards Abigail, but with obvious frustration in his voice as well.

“I wanted to experiment with you and originally Joseph was more than okay with letting me after John was done with you, but things changed. I just wanted to test you at least once before he got to you. The Father’s got some big plans for you.” Jacob explained with a overly excited look on his face, slowly getting off of her and allowing her to move more freely.

“What-“ Abigail started, more confused now than ever what Jacob meant, but John cut her off.

“Enough…let’s get you back to where you belong. I’m hoping to have your confession before long.” John spoke, sounding like a business man who sounded like he didn’t have time any of this or that he was the father of some troublesome child.

Abigail didn’t have a response to go with John’s words; she looked to see Jacob walking back as cultists started walking towards her before she could get comfortable with her free movement. Two of them helped her up before they started to tie her hands behind her back with rope, her poor aching wrists burning in discomfort. The cultists started to guide her out towards the door they came in, Abigail getting closer to John who stared angrily at his eldest brother.

“Thank you for returning what’s mine brother. I didn’t expect to see her unscathed.” John remarked, adjusting his vest.

“Of course, I wouldn’t have tested her if I didn’t think she could do it. The last thing I want is for The Father to be upset with me for hurting what he wants.” Jacob replied with a smug tone before speaking to Abigail, making the cultists stop and hold her in place, “We’ll meet again soon Abby…I hope to see more of you then…”

The intentionally flirty comment only made Abigail feel a chill run down her spine and John ball his hands as his glare only grew more deathly. She didn’t know exactly what the two of them were dancing around while she was in their presence, but it was starting to become frustrating. Abigail would be stronger in her desire to find out, but the way the two brothers stared at each other with such intensely, she really didn’t want to be in the room longer than she had to be, especially after what Jacob put her through.

The cultist pulled her out the door, guiding her through Jacob’s compound to a black car. She was surprised to see them guiding her to a black car rather than one of the white vans around it, but with John following them closely, she put two and two together. John came here with his personal vehicle just to get her. She didn’t know if it actually meant anything for him to do so, but it wasn’t an expected sight regardless.

A cultist opened the backseat passenger door for John while another opened the other for her. John got into the back of his car and the cultists guided her inside to sit down next to him. They shut the doors, leaving John and Abigail sitting next to each other in complete silence. A cultist sat down in the driver’s seat, starting the car, and waiting until they were ready to move before finally allowing the car onto the road.

For what felt like hours, they all sat in silence, not even having their music playing through the radio. Abigail felt a little awkward, expecting John to try to make her confess in his car or something, but he was just…staring out a window. When she looked at him, she could kind of see the look on his face. He looked lost in thought, in a place far from here. While John was like this, Abigail found herself able to admire him. He almost looked normal and it was nice…maybe he wasn’t completely insane. God, she kinda wished there was music playing right now, even if it was that awful Joseph worshiping shit. Just anything to help this tension. 

It was bad enough to have a split second where she admired John, but the longer she was left with her thoughts, the more she started to think back on the trail. Abigail never felt like that before. She felt like a rabid animal, lashing out at anyone or anything without a reason. The thrill and wild excitement she felt in that hellscape was unlike anything she felt before...and it made her feel like a monster. She...killed innocent people without a second thought...in the end, she would have to kill them due to Jacob's influences, but the fact she did so with such joy and excitement while Jacob's praise only made her want to do it more made her feel disgusted with herself. She didn't even feel that way when she killed peggies. Abigail never felt so scared of herself until she thought back on that trail. It...this was all happening way too fast and she needed to stop thinking about it too much, but it was incredibly hard when there was nothing to help keep those damn thoughts away. 

The silence was becoming too much for her to bear and she knew speaking could potentially backfire for her, but she felt like she needed to say something, anything to try to distract herself from her thoughts. “Family problems, huh?” She spoke up bravely and way too causally for their circumstances. She barely got a glance from John, but he seemed to be a little bit more back in reality again. “I used to want a little brother or sister when I was a kid, but times like these make me grateful I’m an only child.”

The second comment managed to actually get a little smile out of John, his eyes looking more towards her. “He used to not be like that…he use to actually be a good brother.”

“Before…the military happened?” She questioned making John look at her with a questioning look himself.

“Did he tell you that?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“No…I just…put it together. The army jacket…his demeanor…the way he handles a sniper rifle…” She listed as the memory of that hellish world popping up in her mind again as she remembered the gates of the veteran center, but decided not to mention that one in case it was a sore spot.

“Yes…he does radiate that piece of info doesn’t he? The fact he was in the army is the only thing he's more than happy to show off.” John spoke again, seemingly more to himself than anything.

“What was he like? You know…before?” She asked, genuinely curious herself now that she was speaking to a more human John.

A little smile grew on his face as he recalled his old memories. “He protected us and instead of trying to get a rise out of us, he tried to make life a little bit more bearable for us. Our father didn’t care for the media and pulled Joseph and Jacob from school…I don’t remember everything, I was really young. I just remember Jacob…taking beatings in my stead…threatening to kill our father when he noticed bruises on me…hell…he even stole candy for us to just give us something that would make us happy.” John explained, letting out a little chuckle and looking genuinely happy for a moment.

Abigail felt a warmth in her chest as she smiled at him, “That sounds nice…he was a good brother to ya’ll when you needed it most.”

John looked at her as though she said something that made him realize something. He smiled at her and replied, “Yes…he was.”

They fell into silence again, but this time, it was a much more comfortable silence. John even seemed like he was in a better mood after talking to her. They didn’t talk again for the rest of the ride, but it felt like a little victory nonetheless. She felt like she was getting somewhere. Maybe it was too late for Joseph and Jacob, but John…he was the most human of them and she saw it now more than ever. Still...she couldn't help the bit of sympathy she felt for John. Seeing his brother being the man he was now...it must of been hard on him...Abby knew it was. She had someone in her life that wasn't unlike Jacob and...she knew how hard it was to love the person they use to be when they were nothing but a monster now, just for the slightest bit of hope that maybe that old person they loved so much would return to them someday. 

However something came to her surprise. As they passed by the road that would of taken them straight back to John’s bunker, she looked at John a bit confused, but he simply smiled at her. This whole time Abigail thought he was going to return her to the bunker either in the confession room or back in her cell, but now she wasn’t sure where she was going. Part of her was curious what his plan was, but another part...terrified. At least in the bunker she could have the comfort of knowing she could talk to Hudson and they could try another escape plan that would let them both escape, but now...she wasn't sure what was going to happen or where he was taking her. However, she wouldn’t be wondering for long as she saw John’s ranch slowly coming into view.


	12. Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally made it to the smut chapter! I hope it was worth the wait and be rest assured, more smut will be on the way at a much faster pace!

As they pulled up to John’s Ranch, Abigail wasn’t sure what to make of this. She had prepared herself for a cold dark cell near one of her friends, but it looked like John wanted to give her a warm cozy house instead. She didn't know if this was an attempt to throw her off or what, but regardless if that was the intention or not, she most certainly was thrown off. She became visibly more on guard, but John didn't looked surprised at it. It actually made him grow a smile that made it look like he was pleased with himself over it. She didn't know what his plan was, but she wasn't going to let him catch her off guard. The convoy came to a full stop and the driver turned off the engine before opening the car door and stepping outside. A few seconds passed and Abigail almost jumped as the car door next to her opened, getting a little chuckle out of John as his door opened up as well. She looked at John to see that charming amused smile on his face as he looked at her for a moment before she felt hands grabbing her arm. Abby let the cultists pull her out of her seat and back onto her own two feet to guide her towards the Ranch house with John beside them.

The cultists guided her inside of John’s house, but it wasn’t long after stepping inside did John finally speak up as he walked past her before stopping and turning to face her and the cultist holding her. “I’ll take it from here. Thank you. I’ll ask that everyone leave us alone until I say otherwise, keep a sharp eye out tonight.”

“Yes Brother John.” The cultists replied at the same time, letting go of Abigail and walked back towards the entrance, shutting the large doors on their way out, and leaving Abigail completely alone with John. What was this, she thought the moment John ordered his bundle of peggies to leave the two of them totally alone within his home. She didn’t know how to feel being alone with him, especially with her arms tied behind her back, but it didn’t seem like she had much of a choice in the matter. If this was a move to help make her more relaxed then that was a failure. If anything, it made her even more on edge. Sure, there was still a sea of cultists outside, but the fact that he wanted them alone in the entirety of his impressive Ranch house made her suspicious of what was going through his mind. 

John reached into his back pocket and pulled out a knife, slowly coming towards her. Abigail tensed up, looking at him, and instinctively stepping back as he came closer with a set of suspicious eyes glaring at him. He sighed and looked at her like she was being ridiculous about John fucking Seed coming towards her with a knife. “Do you want your hands free or not?”

Abigail wasn’t sure how to respond at first, but as John gave her one of his charming smiles, she felt herself ease up a bit. She didn’t trust him really, but if it meant her hands being free, than she was willing to take a risk. She’d rather run the risk of him stabbing her under the guise of wanting to help her over the potential of being attacked later without having her hands to help defend herself. With a reluctant sigh, Abigail held her restrained hands out to him, signalling that she wanted her hands freed despite the risk that came with it. John seemed pleased and even slightly amused by her reaction, but seemed satisfied with the lack of words as he got closer to cut her bindings. A chill ran up her spine as she felt John come up to her, perhaps getting closer than he needed to as she felt his hand hold her arm while the other careful cut the rope off her hands. Once her hands were freed, Abigail quickly pulled her hands back towards her chest, rubbing her red, raw wrists as John put his knife away with a smirk.

“I saw one of my men grazed you…does it hurt?” He asked, staying really close to her as his hand reached out to barely touch her hip as though asking for permission to look under her shirt.

“Actually…no…I really don’t feel it at all.” She replied, thinking about it for the first time in awhile given all that happened and trying not to think of the hand touching her.

“May I?” He asked, putting a little bit more pressure on her hip, seeking more direct permission.

“Sure…” Abigail replied a bit cautious and shyly just before lifting the loaned shirt up herself and the remains of her own underneath it to expose her side. She wasn't going to trust John to mess with anything related to her clothing. She wasn't going to give him a chance for him to see more than he really needed to. While she couldn’t really get a good look at it like this, feeling the tips of John’s fingers lightly grazing her skin gave her goose bumps. There was something strange she noticed. As she lifted her shirts up to expose her wound, she realized that her side grew tight as her arms moved up, finally noticing the sensation now she wasn’t fighting for her life. She also noticed as his fingers moved up her side, she could no longer feel them directly on her despite not leaving her or lifting up away from her in anyway. 

“He tended to you...” John whispered softly with the slightest sound of conflict in his voice, Abigail almost missing what he said. “Well…I suppose there’s nothing to worry about then.”

He hesitated moving his fingers off of her skin, but he eventually pulled them away. Abigail was shocked to found herself wanting his warm hands on her body again and her skin missing the way his hands felt on her, but shook that away as she lowered her shirts back down again.

Seemingly content, John started to walk towards one of his cabinets. “Have a seat. Would you like a drink?”

“Uh…” Abigail hesitated answering him, giving him a distrusting and even bewildered look that questioned if he truly thought that sounded like a good offer to make to a woman that hated him.

The realization made him laugh a little as he looked back at her due to the lack of answer. "Fair enough. Anything I have is your's to make yourself, but have a seat for now at least. It's not that good for you to stand for long so soon after experiencing one of my brother's trails."

Abigail looked at herself, her clothes covered in dried mud and remnants of leaves thanks to her attempts to hide from Jacob. John looked over to her again noticing her further hesitation and Abigail finally found her voice again, “Um…I don’t want to mess up your furniture." Why did she suddenly care about his furniture so much? This was so fucking weird and she didn't like it one bit.

He smiled simply at her, “If you like…you can grab a shower. You’ve been through a lot. I don’t mind the furniture really, but I doubt being covered in dried mud is comfortable.”

“Oh…” Abigail felt weird yet flattered by the offer. It seemed so weird to grab a shower in John fucking Seed’s house, but honestly she wouldn’t mind cleaning herself off. Besides...it's been awhile since she had a shower and part of her wanted to wash off all the shit she's been through. Her face and hair must be a sight to see. Yet, she still didn't trust his sudden kindness. “I don’t know…”

“I’ll get you a change of clothes too. You’ll have to bear with me, I haven’t had female company in a long time, but I can find something for you. If you’d rather be covered in mud though…” He offered with a bit of a playful tone.

“No no…I’ll take it…thanks…” Abigail replied with a little nervous halfhearted chuckle, deciding that she could at least deal with a shower even if he had something up his sleeve. “I still have your shirt anyways…I know it’s fucked, but…still.”

“I...appreciate it.” He replied, looking at his mud covered shirt with a humorous tone. “The shower’s upstairs, second door to your left. We can talk more afterwards.”

“Yeah…sure.” She smiled, feeling both super weird and like a little girl at the same time. What the hell was this feeling? Why were they so casual suddenly? Maybe it was because he knew she couldn't escape even if she wanted to. Peggies were everywhere outside and she didn't doubt that there were snipers ready to shoot her the second she tried to escape through a window. Still, it was weird to be somewhat friendly with him. Whatever, she wasn’t going to pass up having a nice hot shower.

Abigail walked up the stairs, remembering the layout since her last time being here along with John's instructions. She smiled to herself, thinking of how humorous it was to think that the last time she was here, she was killing cultists with a big cat by her side. God she hoped Peaches was okay. She hasn’t seen any sign of her or heard anything about her. Abigail was hoping she got away somehow after she woke up seeing that the cult was more focused on her rather than her cat. Hopefully, she was okay. If anything were to happen to Peaches she would kill everyone responsible for it, starting with John.

______________________________________________

The feeling of hot water running down her body was the most euphoric feeling in the world. There wasn’t many feminine products in John’s shower, but she happily made do with what he had, feeling cleaner than she’s felt in a long time. She looked at her side where her graze was, thankful that Jacob thought ahead of time to use waterproof bandaging to cover it. Abigail didn't even know why Jacob patched her up in the first place, but either way she was thankful to have one last thing to worry about. It stung her from time to time when she turned a certain way, but overall she felt practically nothing. She took her sweet time in the shower, cleaning every single inch of herself and scrubbing her face until she was sure all the mud was gone. It took multiple washings to get her hair completely clean again, but she eventually got it good enough to be clean.

After drying herself off, she wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out into what she assumed was John’s bedroom to see a pile of clothing neatly folded on the bed. Her old clothes were nowhere to be seen, assuming that John took them to be cleaned…including her bra…but luckily she brought her panties inside the bathroom with her. She got paranoid of John touching her panties while she was in the shower and maybe it was the right call given her missing bra.

She got dressed in the clothes he managed to scrounge up for her, finding herself in a short sleeved shirt that was too big for her and a pair of sleep pants, also too big for her, but luckily had a way for her to tie them tighter around her. She didn't like how comforted she was smelling a masculine scent on her new temporary clothes and tried not to think about it too much. It also felt weird having to use John’s hairdryer since she hated how her wet hair felt and luckily found a comb that was in a resealable package she hoped hadn’t been used. John was the kind of man who groomed himself well, made evident enough by the fact he had more products for himself than she ever had for herself, and right now she was thankful for it. Yet at the same time, wasn’t completely comfortable using his things and how natural it felt while doing it.

Once she was ready, Abigail sighed and steeled her nerves, not sure what she was going to find or encounter once she went back down stairs, but knew she had little other option. Her heart's pace got a little bit faster as she walked out of his room and made her way to the stairs, clutching her new shirt closer to her chest in a attempt to help her nerves. As she came down the stairs, she saw John reading a book on his couch by the fireplace with a glass of scotch in his hand. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, he seemed to sense her and looked in her direction before giving her a smile.

“You look nice. Sorry for having to give you my pajamas, but it was the only thing I had that was appropriate. I figured you’d prefer that over one of my other shirts and a pair of boxers…though I wouldn’t mind the sight.” He teased, closing his book to give her his full attention.

She was thrown off by the comment and felt her cheeks get a little heated at the surprising comment from a supposed man of God. “Oh, who’s the sinner now?” She teased back by instinct with a chuckle as she sat down on the other side of the couch, feeling a bit more comfortable due to the humorous banter and the results of the warm shower still fresh on her.

She looked at the fireplace and smiled warming at it, enjoying the warmth it gave off. Her staring at something that was rather unremarkable for a man like John, caused John to ask curiously, “Did you grow up with a fireplace in your house?”

Without thinking, Abigail replied with “For awhile…before my father died…after that it was trailer houses. Trailer houses aren’t that bad though…they can be cozy if you do it right.” She didn't like the fact that slipped out so easily, but she was getting tired of being constantly on guard when she had little reason to be suspicious of anything so far other than the fact that the man next to her was John Seed. She was so tired...

John’s smile became a little sad; rather it was because of her or his own experience she wasn’t sure. She sighed softly before looking at his glass and asking, “Can I have a sip?” Part of her wanted to drink and just by the ring that was left behind in the glass, she could tell that John has been sipping on it for awhile. Sure, he could of still slipped something in before she got out, but right now, she didn't really care. She just wanted to relax for once and enjoy a drink, even if it was with a man she hated. 

“I didn’t take you for the scotch type.” He remarked, handing her his glass.

“Funny, I didn’t think you were either, thought you were more of a wine guy. You kind of seem like the type that would think any drink other than wine was uncouth.” She teased bringing it to her lips to take a small drink.

John chuckled a bit at her bringing himself closer to her to make it easier to pass the drink between them. Abigail pushed herself against the arm of the couch to try to make more room between them, but realized she couldn’t get further away from him. Part of her really didn’t want to much to her own surprise and worry, but she tried not to let it get to her. Their fingers touched as she passed him back his drink, causing them to meet each other’s eyes. There was a look in John’s eyes that made her heart pound in her chest. She couldn't meet him directly in the eye for long, not liking too much how he looked at her despite the fact no sign of hate or anger where in them. He didn’t rush taking the drink back from her, letting his fingers enjoy her’s for a moment before placing his drink down on the table.

Somehow, his is eyes met her’s again and he moved so slowly that it took Abigail a moment to realize he was getting even closer. Her cheeks turned red as she tried to get further away, but not with enough effort to actually get away from him. Abigail ended up turning more onto the couch as she started to lean backwards instead, mostly as a weak attempt to keep his face from coming any closer, but it only gave him a way to lean himself over her. Abby couldn’t lay all the way back, trapping her between him and her weakening will to get away. His eyes put her in a trance as the heat and desire that grew more intense each second within them only made her weaker in her knees. Before she knew it, he was leaning almost completely over her, his hands on either side of her, blocking her under him as he brought his lips closer to her’s. Her lips quivered and her eyes closed feeling his lips graze her’s teasingly before finally pushing them against her.

A little moan left her throat, as though the simple act of his lips touching her’s was pleasurable enough on their own. At first, he was gentle and careful with his kiss before it slowly became more passionate. He let a little groan into her lips that gave her chills as one of his hands started to roam up her side. Her skin prickled at the touch and the feeling of his teeth teasing her lips with a bite as their kiss grew more heated. His tongue pressed up against her lips first though, asking for permission almost impatiently. She hesitated at first before finally allowing him access, letting her tongue taste his. His hand roamed up her stomach and gently touched her breast through his shirt.

The touch made her wake up a bit in her haze and she broke the kiss, whispering softly, “No, I can’t…we can’t…”

John didn’t waste a chance, tilting his head and going in to kiss her neck, making her reluctantly moan. Abigail couldn't find the strength within her to push him away as his lips kissed her sensitive neck before feeling his lips take in a bit of her skin. She felt his lips sucking on her skin, wanting to mark her as his only making it harder for her to push him away as his hand snaked up her shirt to touch her bare breast. His teeth bit into her neck, forcing a moan out of her as she closed her eyes to feel the warmth and heat growing more intense in her body. She squirmed underneath him, trying to still have some fight left in her, but the pleasure was so intoxicating that she could feel herself losing the desire to fight him. It’s been so long since she’s felt someone touch her like this and even though it was him of all people, she just couldn’t help melting at his touch.

A little gasp left her lips feeling his fingers teasing her nipple under her shirt, making it hard under his thumb. “John…” She moaned softly, “Stop…”

A sharp gasp suddenly left her feeling his fingers pinching her sensitive nipple and playing with it between his fingers as his lips kissed and sucked on her neck. He stopped for a moment to whisper into her ear, “Give in...say yes to me…”

His hand toyed and played with her nipple a bit more before finally leaving it alone, sliding out of her shirt to instead work on untying her pants now. He leaned back, allowing her to see how tight his pants were getting around his crotch and making her face turn even redder at just the idea of her enemy getting hard over her. He didn’t waste time pulling her sleep pants down off her legs, throwing them on the ground and looking down at her panties, the only thing left protecting her most sensitive part. He was moving so fast, barely giving her time to think, but he had such lust and heat in his eyes it was like he just couldn't control himself anymore. 

She wanted to stop him, but as his fingers started to pull her panties off of her body, Abigail couldn’t find her voice that wasn't just sounds of pleasure. She tried to cover herself at first, but his hand moving her own stopped that weak attempt. His eyes lit up seeing her soft womanhood exposed to him, parting his lips to breathe hotly as he pulled her panties down her legs to join her pants on the floor. He looked at her as he let his finger traced her slit, her hips instinctively lifting up the second he touched her, attempting to put his finger inside of her. John looked at her as he barely pushed a finger passed her lips, wanting to watch her reactions, and gasping at the same time as she did.

“Fuck...you’re so wet already…” He whispered hotly as he let his finger explore past her lips, letting her hear just how wet she was.

“John please…stop. I can’t…” She pleaded weakly before he brought a finger up to his lips to gesture her to be quiet just before adjusting himself.

Much to her surprise and slight panic, she watched as John moved back using as much as the couch space as he needed to lower himself down onto his stomach and leveling his face down to her crotch. Her face blazed red, realizing what he planned to do.

Her legs buckled, unsure what to do, but obeyed easily as John placed a hand on each of her inner thighs to spread her legs even wider apart. John looked at her one last time before bringing his lips down to her lower lips and letting his tongue taste them. A sudden gasp burst from her lips, her nails digging into the couch. He let his tongue taste her lips before gently letting it slip past them making her moan louder than she expected to as his tongue met her clit, knowing exactly where it was and wasting little time to explore it. His tongue started to lap her clit without mercy, moaning into her as his nails dug into her thighs. He breathed so hotly into her, moaning, and nosily tasting her in a way she hadn't felt before. No man ever had it in him to go down on her before and now that she was finally experiencing it, she felt so weak to the pleasure that intensely overwhelmed her. Abigail moaned, unable to control her voice anymore as her body screamed in pure pleasure with his tongue expertly tasting all the right places.

“Say yes to me…” He whispered, softly, stopping for just a moment to speak before bringing his lips to her clit to suck on it. She bit her lip hard, trying to keep herself from moaning and letting him know just how much she was enjoying him. Her hips squirmed, her butt pushing deeper into the couch only making John press harder into her. Her hips eventually started pushing up into his face as her body started to betray her more and more the longer John let her feel just how experienced he was. With every moan he let out into her, only made it harder for her to contain her moans. He let one of her thighs go, using his hand to slowly push a finger inside of her as his tongue started working her clit again. Her walls tightly squeezed his fingers, trying to pull it deeper inside of her on its own. She arched her back, unable to keep her moan inside as he let another finger join the first inside of her, slowly fingering her as his tongue tasted her.

“Ah…fuck…I’m gonna…” She moaned, laying her head back on the couch and closing her eyes, feeling an intense pressure and heat in her stomach.

Just then, John stopped, pulling away with a smug look on his face. She slowly opened her eyes, looking at him and whining when he pulled his fingers out of her. “Why’d you stop?” She let slip out in the middle of her confusion and frustration. She was so close, why the hell did he stop?

“I thought you wanted me to.” He teased with a knowing smile.

She glared at him, frustrated and angry he found a way to get back at her for not begging for him and throwing her words back at her. However, in the middle of her glaring at him, Abigail watched as John reached for his belt, slowly undoing it with a wicked grin, using his knees to hold himself up and sitting up back enough for her to get a good full view of him. “I can still make it happen…but you have to say yes to me…”

“No fucking way.” Abigail glared, unable to look away for longer than a few seconds as she watched him start to unbutton his pants. John simply smiled, pulling his zipper down slowly. Abigail watched with reluctantly interested eyes as John pulled himself out, hard and eager for attention. He was bigger than she expected him to be, but then again, she never really fantasized about him. Adelaide was guilty of that and any fantasizing Abigail had were things she put into her head, but now she was seeing it in person, she could say that Adelaide's fantasizing wasn't far off. Her body instinctively reacted to seeing him finally revealing himself to her, seeing with her own eyes how hard he was for her. A little whine left her lips, biting them quickly after to keep herself quiet as she watched him touching himself, wanting to tease her. He let his hand squeeze and stroke up and down his length, letting her watch how his hard cock looked being tightly squeezed. John decided to tease her further, bringing his hips closer to her, using his hand to let the head of his cock touch her lower lips, just barely pushing beyond them.

John started to loom over her again, gasping as he rubbed the head of his member against her clit and her entrance. Abigail’s hips bucked against him, begging for him to enter her, but John wasn’t going to let her have that pleasure just yet. No, not until he got what he wanted out of her. He slowly pushed the head of his cock against her entrance, threatening to plunge into her the second she gave him what he wanted, but not putting enough pressure to accidentally push inside.

“Fuck fine…” She panted hotly, giving up finally as her body screamed for him to fuck her. “Yes, John...I want you. Fuck, I need it inside of me.” She whispered, desperately wiggling her hips to get him inside of her, “Fuck me…”

A big grin grew on his face, a look of pure pleasure on his face just from hearing those words leave her mouth. Without warning, John pushed himself inside of her making her gasp and moan loudly while she tensed up, slowly feeling him fill her with his length. He was so hot inside of her, feeling her cunt stretching around him so deliciously that her voice couldn't stop letting out little moans as he inched himself deeper inside of her. John pushed more and more of him inside of her, stretching her to fit himself inside. He gasped more and more with each inch she took. “Fuck…you’re so tight…” He panted, letting himself enjoy the feeling of her walls squeezing his member.

His eyes clouded in pure pleasure, looking down at her with an almost drunken look on his face. He started thrusting himself in and out of her slowly, letting her get use to his size, but unable to keep himself still anymore. Thank God, she wasn't a virgin or else she might not have felt so good thanks to his lack of control. His hands ran up her stomach, grabbing the hem of her shirt to lift it up over her breasts to expose them to him, exposing her nipples to the air. Before they got too lost in the moment, John took his vest off eagerly, unbuttoning his undershirt to practically rip it off of himself to let her see his tattooed and toned chest again as he threw his shirt and vest onto the floor.

Slowly, his speed started to pick up, his pants becoming more rapid as his eyes watched her breasts as they bounced with each of his thrusts. The faster he thrust himself inside of her, the louder she started to moan and the harder her nails dug into the couch. Her hands reached up to dig her nails into his back, making him moan louder as she dug her nails hard into him instead of the couch underneath her, leaving a few marks of her own into him. The faster and harder he pushed himself in and out of her, the harder her nails started to dig into him, only making him moan harder and look more primal as he fucked her.

`

Suddenly, John grabbed her pulling himself out for just a moment before moving her. She felt so empty without him inside of her, but the second he forced her off the couch onto the floor covered by a thick expensive rug by the fireplace, she only grew more excited. He wanted more room to work and Abigail was more than willing to let him have it, even if it meant he had to pull out of her for a few minutes.

She spread her legs as far apart as she could; now having more than enough room to do so without being restricted. John wasted no time, taking advantage of her display and plunged himself deep inside of her again. His hands squeezed underneath her, running down her back as he pumped into her. He didn’t stop until her nice round butt was in his hands, digging his nails into her and making her cry out as he lifted her ass up into the air, reaching behind him to grab a couch pillow. He placed the pillow right under her ass, keeping it lifted it as John pressed his entire body into her’s. His lips met her’s kissing her passionately as his hips started to work faster and harder than ever, his hands now grabbing and holding her weak legs to keep them spread for him. It was difficult to breathe, but she didn’t care. She wanted him so damn badly; she didn’t care if she couldn’t even breathe.

John pulled away to pant hard and heavily, pushing his face into her neck as his hands grabbed her hips to hold them in place. His hips clashed into her’s so hard and fast that Abigail couldn’t stop moaning, feeling her tight walls squeezing his pulsing cock so tightly she could feel every detail of it inside of her. Her breasts bouncing before she pushed them up into his chest while she arched her back in pleasure. Her hands grabbed and dug into his back so hard it left long red lines that only made him fuck her harder. His nails dug into her hips, his thrusts becoming sloppy as she felt them coming to an end.

“Ahhhh…I’m gonna cum…I’m gonna fucking cum…” He whispered hotly in her ear, his voice joining her moans and the wet sound of their hips meeting over and over again grew even louder and more lewd.

Abigail didn’t need to tell him she was close too, her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him in deeper and deeper every time he went in. Her moans grew more intense, hotter, and louder as her poor little cunt couldn’t handle it anymore and finally allowed her to cum on John’s cock, soaking it even more.

“Ah fuck yes!” He moaned feeling her cumming on him, his thrusts growing harder and harder now even more determined to cum in her now that she got to cum on him.

“Yes, yes, yes!” She moaned over and over again, John moaning even louder into her as he finally pushed inside her one last time, her legs making sure he was completely inside of her as he finally came inside of her. John panted and moaned hotly, feeling himself filling her needy cunt with his cum. She panted hotly, her face blazing red, practically purring as she felt nothing but thick warmth fill her. The two of them stayed tangled together for several minutes, panting and holding each other as John let himself rest on top of her. Her legs shook hard in the aftermath, enjoying feeling him against her, still inside, but getting softer to give them both time to calm down.

When he finally had the strength, John lifted his face out of her neck to kiss her sweetly on her lips. It was a gentle, loving kiss, one she sweetly enjoyed. It took several more long minutes before John was ready to pull himself free of her, her body actually allowing him to now that it got what it wanted. Part of her was expected them to immediately regret what they did, but neither of them did. When he broke their kiss, his eyes met her’s and a small, content smile grew on his face. He looked happy, genuinely happy and relaxed and, as wrong as it was, she felt the same. It was weird and maybe later she’d grow to regret letting this happen, but right now, Abby didn’t care about any of that. All she cared about was the man looking down at her with a love in his eyes with the soft glow of the fireplace against him.

Abby didn’t know if it was the high that influenced her thoughts or genuine feelings, but right now, she didn’t see the John Seed everyone feared for good reasons. Right now, she saw a man who looked at her with admiration and even hints of love. His hand left her hip, gently caressing her on its way up to her face. He gently touched her cheek, feeling her heat against him. Strangely, this was the most loved she’s ever felt. Abigail wanted to feel like this for the rest of her life. For once, there wasn’t any stress or anger within her, she finally felt at peace. She knew this feeling wasn’t here to stay, but she wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could. God, she missed this feeling.

“Here…let’s get you off the floor…probably doesn’t feel the best on your back.” John smiled, speaking sweetly.

Abigail’s back did start to hurt a bit from being on a floor, but she only really noticed it when he pointed it out and the rug helped. John quickly redid his pants, putting himself away before breaching down to grab her hand with one of his hands while the other slid underneath her shoulders to help her sit up. She groaned a little, her already sore body now even more sore, but for better reasons than her old sores had been. He helped her up onto her feet, but her shaking legs buckled a little bit under her weight. John reacted quickly, catching her before she even had a chance to actually start to fall. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders to help hold herself up and looked at the man who held her. With his arms wrapped around her, John pulled her in close, letting their chests meet as he smiled down at her. He just stared at her for a second before giving her another kiss.

He slowly and reluctantly broke their kiss before gently pressing his forehead up against her’s. “I don’t know if I can keep my hands off of you for long…you’re so fucking delicious.” He whispered softly, feeling his warm breath against her lips.

“I…I don’t think I want you to.” She replied in a whisper of her own, this time she was the one to kiss him. Abby was so confused about how to feel. This man hurt so many people, but she felt so damn good in his arms and his lips tasted so sweet.

When their lips parted, his eyes got even brighter from her words and return of affection. “You must be exhausted…” He whispered, “You can sleep in my bed…alone if you like…”

Abigail was pleasantly surprised by John’s words. They just got done doing something incredibly intimate and personal, yet, he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by sharing a bed with her. John must of realized how fucked up this situation was too, but just like Abby, he didn’t want to ruin it. He was so eager to make her suffer before, but now he was terrified of making her uncomfortable and she couldn’t help the smile growing on her face.

“No...I want you with me. Seems kinda cruel kicking you out of your own bed, especially after…” She chuckled with him, the look on John’s face reflecting a look of pure happiness on it.

With that, John let go of her just enough to grab her again, this time with the intent on picking her up. The sudden act made a little squeak come out of her as she felt her feet leave the floor only to find herself being held in his arms like she was his newfound bride. She giggled, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders as she looked up at him.

“I can walk fine, you know?” She teased playfully as John started carrying her towards the stairs.

“I know.” He simply responded with that damn smug look on his face. Usually she hated that damn look, but right now, she adored it.

John carried her up the stairs back into her bedroom. He closed the door behind them with the heel of his foot and sat her down on his bed. The second her body touched it, she immediately felt how soft and comfortable his bed was. She groaned happily, letting herself stretch herself on it while John looked at her with a content smile on his face.

“Fuck…I haven’t felt a bed this good in years.” She sighed contently before looking at John and seeing him stripping his vest and shirt off. Abigail had already seen him shirtless, but now she could openly admire him without embarrassment and shame. Shame for her attraction to him went away as soon as he was inside of her, for now at least. Along with ditching his shirt, John started undoing his pants again, this time actually allowing them to fall off his body before he started to crawl into bed with her. She giggled watching John crawling over her, quickly sealing her lips again as his body pushed against her. A soft moan left her lips, her legs squeezing his hips between them and feeling his crotch up against her’s again. Their kiss started to grow intense again before they had to force themselves to stop before they got too heated again.

John looked down at her to see her tired eyes and whispered, “I already want you again…but…you do need some sleep. Real sleep…but in the morning...now that’s different.” He teased wickedly making her giggle as he forced himself off of her to fall onto the bed beside her.

With that John reached for the blanket underneath them and pulled it free just enough for him to pull it over the top of them. Together, Abigail and John lay together, holding each other with the occasional kiss here and there until they eventually fell asleep in each other’s arms.


	13. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a smut chapter, but it's also a chapter that deals with childhood trauma. There's some pretty triggering content that's discussed, but not in huge or graphic detail including abuse, death, prostitution, cancer, drugs, and attempted molestation. 
> 
> If these things are upsetting to you, the talk starts at: “Fuck it.” She sighed again, “It’s really not that unusual. It’s…fucked for sure, but…I don’t know I try to think about how much worse it could have been. That others been through worse and my stuff really isn’t that bad compared to other people.”
> 
> Ends at: John wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest, and let her cry.

The morning sunlight made Abby stir from her deep sleep. She could feel a set of strong arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tight to their body. Abigail smiled at the feeling, but it seemed like she wasn’t the only one starting to stir. When her eyes slowly opened, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She was back in John's room, no green mist, no forest, no Faith...just John's room. No bliss dream!? No bliss dream!?!? Abby couldn’t believe it. Did she actually had a night of sleep with no dreams? She felt giddy as she looked to see the room around her being the same one she fell asleep in without any green fog around or anything. She never felt so relieved to open her eyes. For once, she didn't wake up to see Faith or Burke, but just simply woke up. She felt so giddy that she almost started laughing. Maybe she could finally start getting a damn good night's sleep! 

The arms wrapped around her loosened up enough to allow her to move enough to turn. She remembered falling asleep next to John, feeling him hold her like they've been lovers for years. In the midst of her joy of having a nightmare free night, Abigail turned to greet to stirring man she fell asleep with, wanting to greet John with a smile and thank him for somehow making her nightmares stay away for a night. However, the moment she turned, her eyes widened seeing the face that belonged to the arms that held her for it wasn’t John she was sleeping with anymore, but Joseph.

Joseph had his eyes open and a grin on his face from her surprised face, his arms tightened around her again and forcing her to come closer to him. She tried to squirm out of his arms, but he was so unnaturally strong that she could barely move. His face was close to her's, his bare tattooed chest up against her own, those damn steel blue eyes digging their way into her very soul when they meet. Confusion and fear filled her, wondering where was John, the only Seed she would of been happy to see, but her fear only grew as she saw the world change. Green fog started to surround them, her heart pounding as she looked into Joseph’s eyes through his yellow tinted aviators. Her body was still vulnerable from her night with John, her only safety being the shirt on her back. If John hadn't given her something to cover up from their intimate night, her bare chest would of been up against his, but while her chest was concealed for now, other parts of her weren't. 

“I see one of my fears came true.” He spoke calmly, staring into her with those soul piercing eyes. “Jacob did have a right to be concerned about you two after all. John has sinned deeply with you. My child…your sins show themselves upon you more and more. No matter how hard you try to bury them, your sins will still burn away at your soul until you confess and atone for what you've done and these sins grow more every passing day that you don't do what must be done.”

“What the hell do you want with me?” She glared at the Father, still trying to break free from his arms, but failing while being reminded of the words Jacob told John just before passing her off into his younger brother's custody. ‘The Father has big plans for you’ came back to her and it started to nag at her and fill her with dread.

The Father’s smile only got bigger as he let one hand touch her cheek. She tried to pull away, squirming in his arm hoping that one hand would be enough to get her out of his hold, but he didn’t budge. Joseph slowly brought his face closer to her, he paused just before his lips could touch her’s, making her body even more desperate to be freed. He stayed like that for a few seconds before bringing his lips to her ear. “You will give back what you took from us and perhaps…if my visions continue down the path they have been…you will gives us even more.”

“Can’t you just give me a damn simple answer?! Tell me what you want from me!” She demanded with anger and frustration burning in her voice the moment Joseph pulled himself away from her to look at her in the eye again.

“Soon…very soon you’ll know, but I’ll put you at some ease…you can rest easy knowing that God has a special plan for you…he’s shown me the woman you will become. I’m not angry at John…but he will have to make up for his sins and so will you…very…very soon.” He whispered, using his one free hand to touch her bare leg. Her skin started to crawl as his hand started to run further and further up her leg, making it to her thigh. Fear and panic flooded her as his fingers slipped underneath the end of John's shirt, threatening to seek something further.

“Get off of me!” She screamed, trying to get his hand away from her before it came any closer, but it wouldn’t stop. Just before he could touch her between her legs, she screamed and everything went dark.

______________________________________________

Her eyes shot open and she jerked awake, the arms wrapped around her being forced to let go of her. She panted, terrified, her mind spinning as a voice spoke to her with concern, “Mmmm...Abby, you okay?”

“Huh?” She questioned, looking around to see she was back in John’s room, but this time when she looked at the man beside her, she saw John, sitting himself up to look at her with tired, but concerned eyes. His hair looked a mess, but not so much it wasn't like she wasn't looking at John Seed, but he was as naked as the day he was born with only a blanket to help cover things up since he, understandably, decided to strip completely after going to bed with her. 

“Are you okay? You look terrified…” John asked again, waking up a bit more and putting a hand on her shoulder before leaning closer to her.

John’s voice brought her back to reality faster than she would on her own, quickly turning and wrapping her arms around him, burying her face into his chest, bringing him back down onto the bed with her. “Whoa, hey it’s okay…” He comforted, holding her to him. “Did you have a nightmare?”

“Yeah…a really bad one.” She replied, trying to fight the tears that filled her eyes. Abby was so damn frustrated with these damn nightmares that she could feel herself unraveling. All she wanted was one night of peaceful sleep. No Faith, no Marshall, no Virgil, and for sure no Joseph. She could still feel the phantom touches of Joseph’s hands on her body and it made her feel validated. Abigail squeezed John tightly, shaking as she tried to keep herself from crying in front of him. The last thing she needed was for him to see her weaker than she already appeared. She could feel John’s hand gently stroking her back which brought her more comfort than she personally wanted it to.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked with genuine concern in his voice, something she didn’t think she’d ever get use to.

“Not really…” She lied, “I’ll be okay though…I just want to forget about it.” Part of her really did want to tell John what happened in her dream, but she didn’t know what would happen. Would he be reminded that they were supposed to hate each other? Would he remember that he still hasn’t made her confess? She already felt weird clinging onto him while he comforted her. The last thing she wanted to for him to be reminded of their situation before she was ready to deal with it.

“You know, what’s a good way to make you forget bad things?” He asked with a mischievous tone.

Curiosity got the better of her, making her loosen her hold on him as she pulled away just enough to look at him. “What?” She asked, partly scared of what John would tell her next.

However, before he said anything, he used his strength and weight to force her down on her back, pinning her hands to the either side of her head and putting himself on top of her. He looked down at her with a smug grin and flirtatious look. “I can think of quite a few things.” He teased, taking his hands to run up her sides, slowly making her only piece of clothing rise up on her.

Despite her dream, it felt good having John’s hands touching her, forcing Joseph’s phantom touch disappear like he was washing his brother’s hands off of her. Abigail managed to smile as she helped John take her shirt off, letting herself be completely vulnerable to him. His eyes wondered to rest on her swollen breasts. John couldn’t help himself and gave into his urge to touch her further. He grabbed her breasts, holding it in his hand to admire how there was still enough of her that his hand couldn’t hold all of her breast. He squeezed her, letting his thumb brush across her nipple as his lips found her’s. He moaned into her mouth, one hand squeezing and playing with her breast and the other exploring the spot between her thighs. He let his finger tease her lips. She moaned into his lips, spreading her legs wider to let him have all the room he needed.

His thumb kept teasing her nipple until it was nice and hard, finally letting his lips part with her’s just to bring his lips to her nipple. She sighed lustfully feeling his tongue circle her nipple, his finger between her legs pushing past her lips to feel how wet she was already. He let out a soft moan and whispered, “Fuck…you’re so wet already.” His finger explored her, letting her hear just how wet she was.

His lips sucked on her nipple, pushing his face into her soft breast. The sweet sucking noise along with her wet sounds of his finger exploring her made a lustful sympathy with her moans starting to join it. Her hand reached up to grab the back of his head, letting her fingers run through his hair and pushing his face harder against her breast. He moaned at the act, quickly retaliating by letting his finger start to rub her clit. Her other hand quickly latched onto his exposed back, letting her nails dig into his skin without any clothes to protect him from her.

Her hips started to squirm and her back arched in pleasure. Her moans only getting louder as his fingers rubbed her increasingly sensitive clit. “Oh fuck John…” She moaned letting her nails dig into his back even harder, making him moan louder into her breast. She clawed more and more of his back the closer she felt herself get just from his fingers, only making John moan more and more.

John must have had enough of her clawing, because he pulled his lips away from her tit and looked like an animal in heat staring down at her. “Turn around.” He growled hotly, “I want to make you scream for me.”

Just the wild and lustful look alone made her want to turn for him, but the growl in his voice made her want him even more. Once his finger left her clit and he got off of her, Abigail wasted no time turning herself around and getting onto all fours, letting her ass and part of her sex face him. She could hear John moving around before he came up to her, letting his hands touch and squeeze her ass. He forced her ass up higher in the air, exposing more of her sex and making her push deeper into the bed. Abby waited in anticipation and almost jumped feeling the head of his cock tracing her pussy lips. Unlike last night though, he wasn’t patient and quickly pushed himself inside of her, not wanting to waste a second to feel her again.

Abby moaned loudly, feeling John deep inside of her again and giving her a taste of heaven as he stretched her to make her fit him inside. His hands grabbed and squeezed her hips, moaning as he let her walls clamp down on him. She quivered feeling his cock throbbing inside of her, his nails digging into her hips. How could a man so vile make her feel so damn good? This was far from the first time she’s been with someone in an intimate way, but already, John was pleasuring her more than any of her partners did. Her hips pushed back against his, wanting to sheath every inch of him. She could hear a slight chuckle from his lips. He probably adored seeing her wanting him so badly. As much as she hate giving him what he wanted, Abby needed this to the point, she didn’t care that she was getting it from John fucking Seed.

One hand let go of her ass to run his hand up her back, his nails scratching her skin, giving her goose bumps as she finally felt him move his hips. A soft moan left her lips feeling John finally moving himself in and out of her. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight hearing him let out a pleasured groan, his hips slowly picking up speed as her body grew use to him. She could hear their bodies meeting, feeling his midsection against her butt and his balls teasing the back of her thighs. Her hands grabbed the pillow and sheets, her nails lightly digging into them as she felt his hips getting even faster, pumping himself in and out of her even more intensely. Abby pushed her face into the pillow, moaning into it as John started fucking her harder.

She could feel John starting to lean more over her, allowing his hand to run further up her back until she could feel his fingers running up the back of her head. Suddenly, he grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled back roughly, making her yelp, but forcing her hips back into him as her back arched. The grab forced Abby to lift her face from the pillow as John growled, “I told you…I wanted to hear you scream for me.”

His voice sent chills down her spine as he forced his cock into her as hard and deep as he could. She moaned louder than she ever expected she could, feeling him deeper inside of her than anyone had ever been. His other hand still on her ass let go of it just to come back down on it again with a smack. Another slightly pained moan forced itself from her throat, his hips working against her faster and harder. She could feel his bed moving under her, his powerful hips forcing the bed to move along with her as he forced his cock in and out of her.

John thrust into her so rapidly and hard that Abigail couldn’t even think straight, her mouth permanently open from moan after moan filling the air. He spanked her ass hard, his nails digging hard into her making her scream. She could hear his pleasure as he groaned at her sounds, enjoying every noise she made as her body begged for more. “That’s it…that’s my girl…” He moaned, “Moan for me…”

Abigail could feel herself getting close and knew John was reaching his limit too. She felt his cock throbbing so hard and rapidly that she knew he was seconds from filling her again. Finally, words were able to form instead of pure moans, “Fuck me! God fuck me John!” She cried, her body shaking from his powerful hips. Her cries must have been the very thing John needed, because in that very moment, John practically laid onto her, using his hands to force her hips to stay up as he dived into her like a rutting dog. He buried his face into her neck, moaning hotly before sinking his teeth into her. Her moans and cries were endless as her walls tightened and milked him until the moment he force himself inside of her as deep as he possibly could. In that moment, she felt her body finally release, cumming on his cock just as he started cumming into her. John let out a loud moan, panting hard as he tensed up with her, their bodies becoming stiff as they came together.

John stayed stiff for a moment before finally melting with her, laying himself down on top of her with his cock still cumming in her. They panted together, simply letting their bodies act on their own as the high wiped every thought and memory from their minds. It took John a moment before he finally started kissing her neck where his teeth marked her. A little chuckle of disbelief followed his words, “Jesus Christ, I’m still cumming…”

Those sweet words made her grin and groan in pleasure as his lips kissed her skin. His hips gently thrust in and out of her, barely moving, but letting his cum escape her sex and onto his bed and her thighs. Abby smiled, gently moaning, and closing her eyes to enjoy the feeling until John was finally ready to move again. “Fuck the things you do to me…” He whispered into her ear before gently pulling himself out of her.

Abby felt John’s weight lift off of her back as he pushed himself off of her to fall down onto the bed next to her. She stretched a bit, letting her back loosen up before switching to her side to face John with a groan. Abby was greeted with John’s smiling face and it almost took her aback. It wasn’t just a happy smile, but one that reminded her of the way her parents use to look at each other before her father was…

“What?” She chuckled, forcing those thoughts that came up into the back of her mind, trying to focus on the man beside her.

“I…I don’t know…” He spoke, his smile only getting brighter, “I just…can’t stop looking at you. I guess…I didn’t expect to be so happy like this…” His hand came forward to gently touch her cheek. His warm touch was so loving that part of Abby became fearful. She didn’t even hate it either. She even instinctively pushed her cheek deeper into his hand. It was becoming scary how much she started…feeling things for him and to see those feelings reflected back at her. Abigail didn’t know what to do anymore. She wanted to push him away and get away while she could, but at the same time, she didn’t want him to stop touching her.

“I…I guess we’re in the same boat then.” She reluctantly spoke, finding it harder and harder to lie to John.

Those words brought a smile that looked more in disbelief, but in a way that looked like a pleasant surprise. His touch became even gentler, like she was so fragile that she would break at the slightest touch. Eventually he pulled his hand back and started to sit up. “Well…you’re probably starving. How about I go downstairs and cook us up some breakfast?”

Abby sat up enough to use her arm to hold up her head with her hand against her cheek with a little look of suspicion on her face, “You cook? Don’t you have people for that?” She teased playfully.

John pretended to be insulted with an overly shocked look at her with a hand against his chest, “How dare you madam. I’m insulted that you would suggest that I have people to do everything for me. I mean I do, but I don’t like using them.” He grinned, playing along with her teasing. “For real though, I’m not great at it, but I can do enough to sustain myself. Joseph was the one who really knows how to cook. He learned how to just to make sure we got to eat since our darling parents had other concerns besides if their kids were fed or not.”

Abigail scoffed and sat up a bit more, “I feel that. I mean…it use to not be like that, but after my dad died…my mom just…stopped caring…”

“What happened?” John asked with concern, but the look Abigail gave him made him quickly add, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to tell me. Not like I blame you.” He shrugged, partially acknowledging their history for a moment.

She sighed softly thinking for a moment. In truth, she really shouldn’t tell John anything. Just because they slept together twice and had a nice time alone it didn’t mean she could trust him. John was still a Seed and he will always choose the Father over her, but part of her couldn’t help but have a desire to talk about it. Just from the little bit she let out felt nice and even if it’s used against her, she just wanted to tell someone. Maybe it would make things easier to deal with.

“Fuck it.” She sighed again, “It’s really not that unusual. It’s…fucked for sure, but…I don’t know I try to think about how much worse it could have been. That others been through worse and my stuff really isn’t that bad compared to other people.”

John turned more towards her, leaning a little towards her. “Hey…just because other people may have had it worse than you doesn’t mean your pain is any less valid.” Those words hit her harder than she expected them to. Her heart started to ache to think about it all. It just feels surreal that…maybe things really were that bad. Now more than ever, she felt the need to talk.

“I don’t know…I just feel like I have no right to be upset when there are people way worse off than me. Everything started off great. I was better off than most, I was living comfortably, had married loving parents, good grades, everything a kid could ask for. I really loved my dad. He basically taught me everything I believe in. He’s…he’s one of the reasons I joined the Sheriff's department…I didn’t think it would of gotten me here, but hey…God works in mysterious ways…” She explained, sounding a bit more relaxed, but with a hint of pain within her voice.

The last thing seemed to catch John off guard, “I didn’t think you were religious.”

“I was raised Christian and I do believe in God, but I really didn’t go to church. I don’t know I think I just want to believe there’s something more than this. I like the idea that there’s a place that you can go just for being a decent person where you can see your friends and family again and just…be happy. No pain, no worries, no stress…it’s a nice thought. Even if God doesn’t exist and there really isn’t something beyond this life…I just like to believe in it…gives me hope for better things.” She further explained, looking at John with a bit of embarrassment as though she was confessing something that he was going to tease her for, but he didn’t, John just smiled and listened.

“Anyway…things were great until…well…my dad died. I was twelve when it happened. He was killed in action, shot by a drug dealer. After that...something in my mom just broke…” She paused for a moment to take a breath. “She stopped caring about me. Got mixed up in the wrong crowd and started dating this…fuck…this asshole. He seemed fine at first, but…something just…seemed wrong about him and I thought it was just a feeling I had. I just wanted her to be happy after what happened.” Abby paused again, feeling her chest tighten as more memories started coming forward. “Um…he…he did some fucked up things. He would hit my mom and call her all these things. He never hurt me, but it was because I never really left my room. I went to school and came home just to go straight to my room.”

Abby took a breath, her voice starting to crack, unable to stop herself now that she started, “My grandpa was my saving grace. He basically became my new dad, he took care of me since my mom basically stopped, but…” Her eyes started to water, “He was diagnosed with cancer…and…we moved in with him to try to help him, but…my mom was gone at work and her boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. One day, he just…gave up. He was drunk when I came home every night and he fell one day and…I couldn’t do anything about it…I was too weak to help him. I couldn’t get him off the fucking floor and he just…accepted it.”

Tears started to run down her face and she felt John get closer to wrap his arm around her shoulder, “I couldn’t do anything…then the next thing I knew…he was gone and it was like I lost my dad again. My mom was a wreck again and things just got worse. She started saying things to me like she regretted having me…that I was retarded…shit that made me hate myself. She threatened to kill herself right in front of me so many times I lost count. I wanted to die…but I was too fucking scared to do it. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when my mom and her boyfriend took me to their friend’s party…it wasn’t a place for kids but there was a room that all the kids could hang out in. I was the oldest, but I honestly didn’t want to go out there either. I was scared. Then there was this…guy…he spent the whole time with us, a grown married man, in a room full of kids when there were adults in the other room having the time of their lives.” She paused again, shaking harder and struggling to keep talking. “He kept being so nice to me. He managed to get me in a room alone…I…I somehow got out before he got too far, but…he tried something. I got to my mom, begging for her to just once help me. I wanted to leave so damn badly, but what did she do? She told me he was married…that he couldn’t have tried what I said…she fucking saw him take me into a room alone and did nothing! I could have been molested and she didn’t fucking care!” She started shouting, tears running down her face, staining John’s blankets, but she wasn’t done just yet.

“It was years later did I find out that she wanted him to do it…she wanted him to touch me…because she wanted me to become a prostitute because she started working the streets for her boyfriend and got addicted to heroin…and she wanted me to do it too so she could get more drugs…I got the fuck out of there. My grandma took me in…I barely graduated high school…and I went straight into the Sheriff's department…I wanted to help people…I wanted to do the thing my mom refused to do for me and do something my father believed in. If I could of helped one person…just one…I could die happy and I can’t even do that right.” She finally finished, letting her tears fall, crying and shaking as she felt John pull her closer to him.

John wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest, and let her cry. She whined and screamed into his chest. It hurt so damn badly, but felt so fucking good at the same time. John was quiet, simply stroking her back and holding her to him for what felt like hours until she basically soaked him in her tears. “You were betrayed by the one person who should have protected you.” John spoke, like he perfectly understood what she’s been through. “She hurt you badly, wounded you deeply, and you tried to put a band aid on it, but your wounds are too deep for that…and it’s okay…you’re okay.” He whispered softly, giving her words that made her want to cry more, but comforted her. After all they’ve been through for the past couple of days, John Seed held her in his arms, comforting her and just letting her finally cry and let the pain flow out of her. For the first time in years…she finally felt free.


	14. Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry for the late update. I was pretty busy this memorial day weekend but to sort of make up for the lateness of this chapter I wanted to post a link to my Spotify playlist full of music that I use to write this fic that either fit perfectly or just remind me of FC5 in general. There's a few story hints of what's going to come in the song choices but nothing that really gives it away. There's also a few songs I threw in there as jokes, but overall pretty serious in terms of fitting with this fic or the themes of it or FC5 itself. If this sounds interesting to you here's the link: 
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/11tTb6C1Uhdxv0xmueolyt?si=VilyIJJfSuGm3QLk7VO31A
> 
> Hope you like it if you check it out and hope you like this late and kinda short chapter!
> 
> In light of recent events, I felt it appropriate to say a few things given that I mention police in this fic. In words of the great of the John Mulaney and Ice Cube, "Fuck tha Police". Just because Abby's father was a good man who happened to be a cop does not mean that the system isn't corrupt and fucked up. Abby herself is not totally a good person either and is a cop herself, part of a corrupt system. If you support the police or Trump, especially after the Anonymous leaked, I don't want you here. George Floyd died horribly and because of a corrupt system we are tired of letting abuse their power. They aren't for our protection, they're for our oppression against a evil class. I don't like getting political but this is an exception. If what I say about this offends you then you're part of the problem and I will not be responding to any ignorant comments or PMs regarding this issue. Any comments spewing ignorance or false information will be promptly deleted.

So much has happened in just a couple of days. He managed to get his deputy back, but…he did something that he knew Joseph wasn’t going to be happy with, yet…he didn’t regret it a bit. If anything, he enjoyed it too much. The feeling of her skin against his, the taste of her body, how warm and welcoming she was as he drove himself deep into her depths...God, what did he get himself into? John sighed, cracking an egg on the edge of his pan and hearing the comforting yet harshly satisfying sizzle of a freshly opened egg in a hot pan.

Abigail finally confessed to him, but in the moment, Joseph didn’t once cross his mind and he just…felt like he cared for her. He felt pain in his chest hearing her story and seeing her so vulnerable. There was something unnerving about seeing such a strong woman who was capable of so much death and destruction just break down in tears. She was scared of something and she had more pain within her than he originally thought. He saw where her anger came from and it reminded him so much of himself. They really weren’t that different. John knew this just from her anger alone, but he didn’t know just how close it was. Now things were starting to make sense. He just felt this unnatural pull towards her just from the very moment they were face to face and now…he might have figured out why. Traumatized people pick up on trauma within people and feel a connection or a pull to that shared pain he read somewhere.

He tried to focus on what was doing before he messed up their breakfast, but his thoughts couldn’t stay off of her for long. Her smile, her laugh, her warmth, her soft skin, the sounds she made, the way her beautiful eyes sparkled with light with fresh tears in them. She was…so much better than he expected her to be. Part of him only kissed her last night to see if he could get something out of her with a little affection, given that just a little bit of love could make an angry soul burst into tears, but then…she tasted so sweet, her lips were so soft. He could still taste her, so sweet and tender, despite all the destruction she was capable of. He shook his head, feeling his pants getting tight again and sighed in frustration. No woman could do this to him before, even back in his sinful days when he had a powdered nose and a cheap trick wrapped around him, no one made her feel the way she did. He's had his share of women, but none made him crave more of them like she did. One and done usually...for Abby though...he just couldn't get enough of her. John squeezed the bridge of his nose thinking about how things were only going to get more complicated now, especially if Joseph found out...and he will. 

Just as he finished cooking up some eggs and started working on bacon and toast, the phone on the table in other room started to ring. Normally he’d have a follower answer it for him, but specifically requested all of his followers don’t disturb him while Abigail was here so he could work on her confession which ended with…mixed results. He went ahead and turned the stove off to go ahead and answer the phone. It could have been a number of people, all of them important, and he couldn’t risk missing it, not even for her, especially if it was one of his brothers.

“John Seed speaking…” He answered out of habit back from his days as a solo act back when he was just a lawyer and not a herald to his middle brother's cause on top of it, noticing his paperwork sprawled out on the long table. He started to gather the papers to move them to a different place given that they occupied the dining room table they'd be using this morning before Abigail came down only to hear the one voice he really didn’t want to hear right now.

“Good morning John…” Joseph greeted with a sinister tone in his voice. “Did you have a good night?”

“Of course, I have the Deputy in my clutches and I got her to confess.” John explained with pride and wasting no time to respond as he pushed down his guilt down to the deepest pits of his chest.

There was a pause for a moment that made him anxious until he finally heard the voice again. "Is that so? Was there anything else…you want to confess John?” His older brother asked, seemingly knowing something that he wasn’t letting on quite yet.

John started to grow more tense, but didn’t let his voice give it away. “What do I have to confess? I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me. I've made the Deputy confess. I’m surprised you don’t sound more thrilled.”

“You haven’t done anything…more than what I’ve asked for?” He asked further, making John’s heart race more and more. “Please don’t lie to me John…”

“I…I…” John stuttered, for the first time in his life, feeling conflicted between his heart and mind. One told him to tell the truth, the other told him to hide it and it was starting to scare him. He never felt the need to lie to Joseph or even cover up what he's done, but right now, he was terrified of telling the truth. If Joseph knew what he did with Deputy...his anger alone might make him shut him out of Eden's Gate. He...couldn't handle that, not after all that he's done and gained. He couldn't lose his brothers again, as much as a headache as they were...he couldn't lose them or all he's managed to do for them. In the end…John knew this was a test of his loyalty. Joseph must have gotten a vision telling him everything. God has been talking to him more than he ever has and telling him things that no one should know. Joseph never questioned him like this before...he had to know. Did God really tell him what he did last night though? 

Before John could open his mouth to try to answer again, Joseph spoke up, “It’s okay John…you don’t have to confess now. I know you still have company and confessions should be done in private...and in person. I’ll come for you soon. Make sure the Deputy gets to eat…I know she’s probably starving. We’ll see you soon…” With that Joseph hung up, leaving John without words as his heart pounded in his chest. What the hell is he planning? Was he mad? Was Joseph going to kick him out? So many thoughts and fears ran through him mind as he put the phone back down and sighed.

“Hey…you okay?” A voice spoke up, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Hmm?” John looked up seeing Abigail covered up in one of his robes, her hair still wet from the fresh shower she just had standing on the second floor railing, looking down at him in a way that made him think of an angel. God…why did she make this so hard? “Oh yeah. Just some business calls from old clients back when I was everyone’s lawyer wanting my help again.” He lied too perfectly, still playing his part. “I made breakfast. I tried to make a lot since you haven’t eaten in a couple of days, but then the phone went off and distracted me. Come down and join me.” He smiled up at her, trying to enjoy her company while he had it.

“Sounds awesome, smells even better from up here.” She playfully added just before heading towards the stairs to join him for breakfast. This was probably going to be their last pleasant interaction together now that he knew Joseph was coming and he wanted it to last as long as possible, because once he shows up, there’s no telling what was coming. He still didn’t even know what Joseph wanted with her, but he almost sounded calmly angry at the idea of what John did while he was alone with the Deputy. He knew he indulged in his sins again, but this was a different kind of anger, one he hadn’t heard from his brother before and that only made him even more terrified of his brother’s arrival.

______________________________________________

The two of them shared breakfast together and as expected, Abigail ended up eating a lot, but John knew she was really hungry. She’s been through so much within such a short span of time that she really had no time to eat even if she did realize that she was hungry. She had a lot happen to her in the past few days and last night was the first time she wasn’t attacked or put through the usual treatment that put all their followers through..for the most part. It was hard to think that only a day ago she was tied up in his confession room and he was ready to write her sins on her skin. Now…he looked upon someone he really enjoyed having around. Despite all she’s been through, she still managed to smile, even with someone who she wanted to kill just a few hours ago. He found her…oddly beautiful, especially after her confession. She had a strong sense of justice, even if it was misguided. With a honorable father who tragically died and a cruel mother like the one she had…he could understand why. He wasn’t unlike her. She was angry and she had the right to be…just as he was angry, but with her…he was happy.

He remembered all the beatings. If it wasn’t his birth father that came to his mind, it was his adoptive parents. He always did something wrong, even if he was innocent…he was guilty of something. John slightly surprised himself when his thoughts turned to Joseph in that regard. He always seemed to be in trouble for something in Joseph’s eyes. John managed to get the Deputy to confess and he found a way to seem pissed off at him for it. Wasn’t that what his older brother wanted? Yes, he committed a sin to do it, but he got it and without a scratch on her, well, mostly without a scratch on her. Joseph never seemed pleased with him and it only reminded him of his adoptive father. He always found something wrong with him, even if John did was he was told and behaved, there was always something wrong. Why should he feel bad for being happy? He shouldn’t…he was going to fuck up again somehow anyways in their eyes, so he should just let himself be happy…with her…while he could.

They talked more over breakfast and Abigail confessed more to him. She seemed to be a open book now that she got the most painful things out of the way and seemed to trust him for the time being. Abby would come to regret that, but…it was nice to pretend like everything was okay for the time being. Cold hard reality was going to hit them soon, so there wasn’t anything wrong with pretending just a little bit longer. She told him of how there was a time in her abuse that she looked towards sex as a escape, even sleeping with people she didn’t even like just to feel loved in some way since her mother neglected her. Again, John thought of himself when he heard her spoke. How many nights did he spend having loveless sex? How many hours did he spend in strip clubs? Too many to count. The only thing that seemed to be different between them was that Abigail didn’t get into hard drugs, weed was one thing, but John use to have a powdery nose even with some of his clients. Their stories weren’t the same, but the outcome was almost exact. Used sex to fill a void, angry at the world, fighting for causes they believed in…it was nice finally getting to find someone who he related to. Abigail was the first person he genuinely felt a connection to that weren’t his own brothers of course. Now the pull he felt with her made sense…perhaps God hadn’t given up on him yet and allowed him to find someone he can finally see himself in.

That fact only hurt him that much more to think about what was to come. Joseph was coming soon, very soon, and he didn’t know what he had planned. Joseph wasn’t predictable these days and that made John fear him. Ever since he laid eyes on the Deputy, he’s been odd. Jacob’s noticed it too, but neither of them said anything. It wasn’t their place to question the Father. All he knew was that the Voice was speaking to him more now, more than it ever had before, and he believed it was a sign that the Collapse was upon them. Perhaps Joseph’s strange behavior over the phone had something to do with it, but he hated not knowing his brother’s moves. He’s always understood people and knew what they were going to do before they did, but Joseph was different. He never knew what Joseph was going to do and it scared him. He knew what Abigail was going to do though. She gave him some of her trust and once Joseph showed his face here…that little bit of trust she gave him would be broken and she may never trust him again and for good reasons. She may even hate him more than ever depending on what Joseph had planned for them. Whatever it was, they’ll both find out soon enough.

John ended up cooking more food for her, knowing she was starving and was going to need her strength soon anyhow. He offered her another change of clothes so she wouldn’t have to stay in the robe for much longer, figuring she’d rather be decently clothed when Joseph arrived despite not even being aware of his arrival any minute now. After returning to him in a new set of clothes he could afford to lose, she managed to smile and laugh with him, just going on about nothing in particular. John hadn’t genuinely laughed at anything in a long time, but she somehow managed to do it. Between all the business he had to handle and his brothers, he rarely had time for himself, so if Joseph wanted to punish him for being just a little bit selfish so be it. Now he was thankful Joseph stopped him from cleansing the Deputy another time that night…he might have killed her that night and he wouldn’t have this moment he shared with her. When he was with her…he felt like everything was going to be okay, even if it was a lie. It felt nice to believe it for a moment. However, that moment came to an end when he could hear the sound of his followers shouting to each other and the sound of car doors slamming shut.


	15. Judas

As Abigail was having her third helping of breakfast, she could hear a commotion going on outside. She couldn’t see exactly what was happening, but as she looked at John in the kitchen, her heart started to race as she watched him solemnly turning his oven off. He looked towards her with conflicted eyes and suddenly, Abigail felt a sense of dread wash over her. She could hear the sounds of John’s front doors opening as he walked from his kitchen out in the open, standing near the dining table she still sat at. Neither of them spoke a word and John could barely look her in the eye as out from the corner of her eyes, she saw him: the Father.

The Father stepped into her sight with the sound of heavy boots hitting the ground and holding his arms behind his back. Joseph immediately looked at her with a grin that made her uncomfortable. Suddenly, Abigail lost the last of her appetite as those icy blue eyes stared into her very soul. There was an intense silence between all of them. John looked like a frightened child, but Joseph had this smug look on his face, like he finally cornered her. She wanted to run, but she was surrounded. Joseph was in front of her and cultists were everywhere outside, probably even more than before with Joseph being here most likely bringing a small army of his own to trap her. She wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but by the look of guilt on John’s face, she was beginning to regret letting herself for starting to trust him.

“Thank you John…” He spoke, basically confirming her fear that her slip in judgment led to this moment, “You did well, getting her to confess…even if your methods were…unusual.” He smiled, turning to look at John.

She watched as John balled his fists as Joseph seemingly rubbed in the fact that John was responsible for this. There was something about John’s face that confused her, like he was a mass of different emotions and conflicting loyalties. Regardless, Abigail could feel her famous rage starting to build up in her chest the more Joseph spoke. The idea of John sleeping with her, not once, but twice just to try to get her to confess made her feel used and violated. She didn’t want to believe that sleeping with her was part of his plan to get her to confess, but…it made sense and it only made her hate him that much more. The conflicted look on his face gave her hope that this all wasn’t just some big plan to get what he wanted, but…knowing what she knew, it didn’t seem unlikely. She didn’t understand how to feel, but one thing was certain, she was getting angry. Not just from the hurt and betrayal she felt, but from the fact that she was the one who let this happen. She let herself slip and John got what Joseph wanted out of her regardless if it was part of John’s plan or not.

“We still have one more step to complete though…” Joseph spoke up again, causing both John and her to look at him with a hint of fear and anxiety in their gazes. Joseph started walking towards her with a predatory look in his eye despite the rest of his face being completely neutral. She felt herself pushing her back harder against the chair, wanting to run but her legs refused to obey her. He reached out to her; his fingers gripped the collar of her borrowed shirt and started to pull it down, to expose the top of her chest. Her heart started to speed up as panic started to rush through her. Memories of her most recent dream came through and she felt herself going into her fight reflex, raising a fist to punch Joseph before he could touch her anymore. However, before her punch could land, he used his hand on her shirt to pull her towards him while his other hand caught her punch. He lifted her up off the chair and slammed her back down on the table, nearly breaking it as she felt pain shoot up her spine. She let out a groan and looked up to see Joseph staring down at her, holding her down with strength she didn’t expect him to have. He forced himself between her legs to keep her from kicking him off of her. She struggled, trying to break free from his hold or to somehow get her legs to be able to meet his stomach or crotch, but nothing worked and she struggled uselessly.

Joseph chuckled darkly staring down at her, holding her down and opened his mouth to speak, “This is why you need to wear your sins. Despite confessing, you still have demons in your soul. Wearing your sins will free them and you will finally feel release and then…you can truly start to see the light.”

She could see John in the corner of her eye; he was closer, but looked as though he moved to try to stop Joseph before stopping himself. His loyalty to his brother would outweigh anything he felt for her; if he felt anything for her at all. She glared up at the man before her, his eyes showing a hint of something else within them as he had her pinned to the table and his hips between her legs. Something that reminded her of her dream once again and made her feels that much tenser.

“We shouldn’t do it here though…” He spoke again, his face seemingly getting closer to her’s as John watched helplessly. “We should free your demons in the house of God…just to be sure they won’t return to you so quickly while your soul is still weak and open to them. Besides…it’s about time you’re given to Jacob to finish the rest of your journey before you can truly be ready…”

“Ready for what you psycho?!” She shouted in anger, trying to free herself again.

Her anger only seemed to make him smile more, “To be my faith…to be mine.”

That made her stop, staring up at him with fearful eyes that only seemed to make his all that much more sinister, even John seemed unnerved by his brother’s words. One of his hands came up to touch her cheek, sending a chill down her spine as he opened his mouth to speak again, “You took our sister from us, but the Voice told me you would replace her…to give back what you’ve taken and that you would be more than what she ever was. Not only would you be our new Faith…you’d also be mine…”

Those words made her chest tighten as she found the fight in her again, struggling harder more than ever to try to break his hold on her and almost succeeded. She knew Joseph was crazy, but this was on a whole other level. “You son of a bitch, get your hands off of me!” She shouted, fighting with all her might.

“There’s no use fighting dear.” He grinned, putting even more of his weight against her, even pushing his pelvis against her’s. “John might have had you a few times to get you to confess, but you’re meant for me. He will have his own sins to atone for, but this is your path, this is your destiny. God himself wants you for me and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

Abigail felt helpless against him. John would dare fight Joseph and she was surrounded by cultists. Joseph was free to do whatever he wanted to her in the very moment and for once, she felt genuinely scared of the man whose blue eyes stared down at her. There was an intense look in Joseph’s eye, but soon enough, he opened his mouth again, “We should get the rest of your confession done before it gets too dark, you’ll need to rest before I can confidently give you to Jacob. It will burn like the pits of hell themselves are burning your skin, but it’s the only way to free your soul. Healing will take time, but you’ll finally be free and you’ll be safe from demons with me until your soul is strong enough to handle their assault.”

Joseph finally looked away from her only to whistle towards the front door and two cultists came out to grab a hold of her as soon as Joseph let go of her. They forced her off of the table and starting tying her hands behind her back again. She sighed, feeling the familiar feeling of rope digging into her wrists that only had a little bit of a rest from the course roughness of the rope digging into her skin again. She looked over to see John watched the sight with a face she couldn’t quite read. He turned his gaze away from her, not showing any signs of his conflict he showed her before and Abby couldn’t help the anger that grew in her chest. She felt the cultists pushing her, guiding her out of the ranch house as she heard Joseph’s voice once again say, “Come brother, you still have business to take care of.”

Abby didn’t fight the cultists who forced her out of the house. However, she saw something that caught her eye and put the fight back into her. Near the caravan of white vehicles belonging to the cult was a cage that had a cougar inside. The collar around her neck gave away that that cougar wasn’t just any cougar that was HER cougar. Peaches growled and hissed at any cultist that came too close to her, swiping at the iron bars that locked her inside.

“Peaches!” She called out; a big smile on her face as she tried to run towards her big cat, but the cultists that held her forced her to stay in place.

The big cat’s ears perked up at the sound of Abby’s voice and roared towards her, the cat’s massive paws trying to claw her way back to her. Abby struggled against the cultists, but they held onto her tightly. Suddenly, Abby stopped, the cultists walking just a little bit more before she stopped, giving her the chance to kick the back of one of their knees with her foot still bare. The cultist’s leg buckled from his own weight now that she knocked off balance and used it to break free from his grip. She threw herself into the remaining cultists, putting all her weight into it to knock them both down, but with her landing on top of him on her side, knocking his grip on her loose too. She quickly got up from the ground, having to use her feet to pull herself up just enough to help them find a good placement to help her off the ground entirely, giving her the chance to run to her Peaches.

Peaches growled and reached out with a paw through the bars before Abby crouched down to reunite with her big cat. “Peaches! How’s my girl? These assholes hurt you?” She spoke cutely with Peaches, but put venom in her voice with the word ‘assholes’. As far as she could see Peaches looked perfectly fine and didn’t look like they were starving her. Peaches purred at the sight of her, trying to head butt her through the bars, but neither of them getting to feel much fur on skin. Abby felt tears of frustration in her eyes as she wanted to pet Peaches now more than ever, but with the bars in the way and her hands tied behind her back, preventing her from giving Peaches the affection she wanted to give her.

Suddenly, she felt more hands grab her, pulling her up off the ground and pulling her away from her cat. “No! Let go!” She shouted, struggling against them as Peaches growled and roared at the men taking her away.

They forced her to face the two men she really didn’t want to see right now. Joseph seemed impressed and John seemed to be lost in thought. “That fight…we need that. I hope to make you as passionate towards our cause as you are towards that animal. You’ll be my wrath, my faith…my…” He stopped himself from continuing, seemingly content to keep any further intentions from her knowledge and she noticed a little spark of anger in John’s eyes as Joseph referred to her as his.

“Let Peaches go…I’ll do whatever you want, just let her go.” Abby glared at the Father, no longer caring about herself so long as Peaches was in the custody of the cult.

“I’d like to do that, but with so many demons plaguing your soul, I can’t trust your word. Besides, my brother has in interest in your cougar. He believes she’ll make a fine judge…” Joseph replied with a smug look on his face before Abby cut him off.

“If you do anything to my cat I’ll kill all of you! I’ll skin ya’ll alive if I found just a single drop of white or red paint on her!” She shouted, her voice full of rage to the point she even sort of surprised herself.

Joseph didn’t seem surprised by her rage and simply nodded his men to take her to his van as John looked away. She struggled, shouting and screaming, fighting the men again with anger burning in her eyes as she glared at the Father as he simply smiled and watched. However, her anger wasn’t purely towards the Father either, but to the man who simply did nothing. She shouldn’t have expected John to help her, but somehow she expected SOMETHING from him, but he didn’t even try, didn’t even look her in the eye, and that pissed her off more than anything. John didn’t even have the balls to look her in the eye as he stabbed her in the back. She was a fool, but he was worse than that. John was a coward.

______________________________________________

The cultists placed her into the back of one of their vans, but as she felt it taking her to the next place they wanted to move her to, she was thankful she didn’t have to look at either John or Joseph for a few minutes at least. She looked out the small window that led to the outside world through the thick van doors. Abby couldn’t help but think of the people from Fall’s End and the Hope County Jail. She wondered what they were doing while she’s been with the cult this whole time, probably causing a whole lot of chaos out there. The thought made her smile even in her predicament. She didn’t expect them to be able to help her. Eden’s Gate was taking her from place to place within a couple of days. Probably by the time they find out where she is, they were moving her again. She didn’t blame them though if they hadn’t been able to try to break her out. The Seed family was having an intense interest in her and made it damn near impossible to get to her. Besides, the Resistance was still small compared to Eden’s Gate. It was a small chance they could even get her out in the first place, but she’d figure out how to get herself out of this….somehow.

It wasn’t a long ride before the van came to a stop. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the possibilities of what was to come. She could hear the sound of car doors slamming shut, shaking the back of the van a little just before she heard the sound of the back doors opening up and she could feel the soft Montana air and sun against her skin before she opened her eyes to feel cultists grabbing her to pull her out of the back of the van. She didn’t fight them as hard this time, feeling tired now that her anger subsided for the time being. They guided her to the place where it all started: Joseph’s compound.

The old church was just as sinister in the day as it was as night. She remembered walked down the very path the cultists were guiding her through, but instead of cultists on either side of her, it was Whitehorse, Pratt, Hudson, and…Marshall…it felt so long ago since everything happened. She got flashes of everything. The dogs barking, the dirty looks from the cultists, the way Earl was warning Marshall that they didn’t have to do anything. God, she wished they listened, maybe Burke would be alive…maybe Virgil would be. She fucked up so much on day one and she only made things worse and more complicated. It really did seem like all she ever did was destroy things or just make things worse. God, she was getting tired. Abigail didn’t know how much longer she could keep fighting like this. The Resistance couldn’t help her, the Seeds wouldn’t stop, and she was trapped in the middle of it. John was the only one who gave her a moment to breath and she couldn’t even trust that he was real. Dutch said it himself; John was good with people and getting things out of her. How the hell was she suppose to believe the John that made her feel normal, that made her feel happy, was even real? Was that John just another mask? She didn’t know for sure, but she didn’t know how to feel about anything anymore. Maybe with Eden’s Gate focusing so much on her that the Resistance could get a few good hits in; maybe even enough to knock Eden’s Gate down and help her out of this mess. She didn’t know what would happen to her or how much longer she could keep fighting. Joseph’s desires for her were becoming clearer as his intentions were. He wanted her, not only to replace Faith, but for other reasons she didn’t want to think about. If she could only hear Earl or Dutch’s voice one more time, maybe they’d know what to do, but right now, she was helpless. All she could do was walk closer and closer to the place that started all this chaos and prayed that God wasn’t truly planning for her to have such a cruel fate. Abigail prayed with all her being that Joseph wasn’t right.

The cultists lead her to the church doors where another pair of cultists opened the doors themselves and the sight she saw within the church was almost exactly what she saw one that faithful day. Joseph and John must of went on ahead of them because right in front of her eyes, they stood looking at her at the very place where she first laid eyes on them. Even more to her surprise, even Jacob was there, almost perfectly recreating the image of Joseph holding his hands out to her. The only things missing were Joseph’s outstretched hands, offering himself to her, pews full of cultists, and Faith herself. She felt her heart drop at the sight, feeling the need to run even more intensely than ever, but her legs refused to listen to her as they brought her closer. The pews that normally lined the aisle were pushed against the walls, seemingly wanting to give them as much space as possible for the rest of her confession.

The closer she was brought to the men, the clearer their expressions became. John looked uneasy, Jacob smiled with interest, and Joseph…looked far too happy. His smile was what she came to expect on his face, but his unnerving eyes gave away the joy he felt seeing her brought to him. The cultists took her to the middle of the church before returning her earlier favor and giving her kick to the back of the knees, forcing her down onto them with a pained grunt. She had her head down, biting her lip to keep her pained noises down before they grabbed her hair and yanked her head up to look at the Seed brothers. She looked up at them, standing before her like they were worthy of her praise and worship themselves, at least two of them did. John couldn’t see to keep his eyes on her for long, looking more nervous than she’s ever seen him before. Was this another mask or was he actually nervous? John seemed to be nervous around Joseph every time she’s seen them together and that only made her more uneasy as John wasn’t a man who got nervous easily.

“You may leave us now my children. This needs to be done in private. She is a soul filled with demons.” The Father spoke as she usually heard him. The cultists on either side of her muttered, “Praise be to you Father” before walking out of the church and closing the doors behind them.

“No one will be bothering us now.” Joseph spoke, taking long and heavy strides towards her in the middle of his church. When he was close enough he crouched down to her level, using his fingers to make her look up at him, slowly bringing his face closer to her’s to whisper the words that brought her back to the inside of the crash helicopter, “No one is coming to save you.”


	16. Atonement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a pretty stressful time at the moment because I'm in the process of moving out of a extremely toxic environment and it's been incredibly taxing. Updates are going to be a lot slower unfortunately, but I hope that this newest one was worth the wait!

Abigail never felt so helpless before. That look in his eye, those words he uttered, it brought her all back to that faithful night, but this time, she had no escape. No one could truly help her now. There was no Dutch this time around. It was just her and the Seeds, free to do whatever they wanted to her. She could hear another set of boots coming towards them as Joseph smiled at her in the dim church lights. Abby looked to see Jacob with a large hunting knife in his hand and she started to feel panic within her. However, he went up behind her, standing over her like a wolf staring down at his prey.

Not far behind him was another set of boots along with sounded like a metal table on wheels much like the kind she sat next to in his bunker. Only then did Joseph get up to move, but he made sure to make himself still in view of her line of sight. Standing before her now was John, seemingly nervous before seeing something switch inside of him. Another mask? He started to look a lot like the man she saw in the bunker, threatening her with pain with Hudson screaming through her gag. He was silent, but he grabbed a bowl with a sponge in it much like before just before looking up to where she assumed Jacob was and felt the ropes on her wrists behind her back starting to loosen. She stayed perfectly still before she felt her hands freed and quickly tried to turn to punch Jacob to knock out the closest Seed to her that also blocked her way out, but he grabbed her hand with a laugh, quickly putting his knife between his teeth to free up his other hand to grab her remaining free hand before she could use it against him. He pinned her down with both hands, chuckling through the knife in his teeth. Abigail knew it was a long shot to actually get a hit on Jacob, but it was her only chance and while she was tired, she wasn’t done fighting yet.

Jacob used a knee to pin one of her arms down so he could free his hand to pull the blade from this mouth. “She’s still fighting?” He questioned with an impressed and surprised tone. “These demons are powerful. There’s no way a woman like this could still be this full of fight.”

“Aeshma himself must be buried deep within her soul.” John replied deadpan, as he reached out to Jacob, putting down his bowl for a moment to take the blade that Jacob had in his teeth only a moment ago. “That’s the only explanation for this amount of rage. She had a abusive mother who turned wicked after her father was killed, he must have buried himself inside of her in that moment of weakness. Her biggest sin…is wrath.” He spoke as he brought the blade up to the edge of the shirt John himself loaned her. She panicked, fighting against Jacob’s hold on her hands realizing what he was about to do. Instead of giving her a chance to fight and flee, the brothers rather cut the shirt right off of her…and she wasn’t wearing anything to protect her chest from their sight. Jacob’s hand and knee pinned her down even harder, making her groan in pain as he opened his mouth, looking down at her in delight, “Don’t struggle too much. You’ll only make this worse.”

As John started to cut her shirt, Abby froze, feeling the cold metal of the blade gently grazing against her skin, making the hair on her arms stand up as her stomach felt heavy. At any moment John could cut into her with the blade, but luckily she was spared that much as he skillfully cut her shirt open and opening the two flaps that exposed her torso to all the men around her. Her flat stomach, her breasts, the marks of John’s lips on her neck, all of it, exposed to the eyes of men who betrayed or hurt her. There was a moment of hesitation in John’s eyes, for a moment seeing the man she saw last night before Joseph came up and touched his shoulder.

“I know your struggling with your sins brother.” Joseph looked down at John, bringing up the fact he knew that John had slept with her as if the marks on her neck weren’t enough to give it away. “But you must fight them and we will help you atone as well.” He finished, knowing that Joseph couldn’t help his glance down at what was exposed to them. It seemed Joseph and even Jacob had their own sins they were fighting as she looked around to see one shamefully lowering his gaze, the other trying to hide the fact he was looking, and the other with hunger in his eyes. She never felt so vulnerable before and she struggled not to cry as the humiliation and anticipation of pain was getting harder and harder to handle.

Luckily, John didn’t keep her waiting much longer as he lifted the bowl of water after placing the knife down on the metal table, far from her reach, to lift up a cold water sponge to clean her upper chest. It looked like he was going to continue where he left off since the bunker, but whatever it was; she was terrified to finally see it happening with no sign of help. The cold water touching her skin didn’t help her growing embarrassment as the cold water gave her goose bumps and even hardened her nipples along with the draft from the old church. She turned away, unable to meet any of their gazes as her face blazed red and she fought a need to cry. When he was satisfied, John grabbed a tattoo gun, placing himself more firmly down on her, pinning her legs under his weight so she couldn’t use them while he worked. He turned on the gun and brought the needle up to her chest, to the space underneath her collarbone and immediately she felt a burning, stinging pain shooting through her chest. At first it wasn’t terrible, but as he started to draw a line down her skin, she started to scream. Her body instinctively tried to fight, kicking uselessly and Jacob having to put even more of his strength into his hold of her arms to keep her still.

“Be still!” John shouted, warning her with a hint of pain deep within his eye that surprised her a little, “It’s suppose to say Wrath not…Rat!”

That anger and pain in his voice was enough to help settle her down enough to try to keep herself from fighting too much. She screamed feeling the needle drawing deep into her skin, not even using ink, just pure needle to carve the word “Wrath”, across her chest. The bones and muscles in her chest screamed in pain, feeling a sharp needle constantly hitting them with sharp, quick jabs. It felt like hours before John was done, her skin turning an ugly deep red as the new lines revealed her sin on her skin. She panted hard, trying to focus on her breathing through the pain as she heard the tattoo gun shut off. John took a breath of his own, seemingly content and relieved all at once. However, as Joseph’s hand touched his shoulder, the relief on his face disappeared.

“Surely there’s another sin or two that she suffers from…” Joseph spoke up, looking down at her knowing full well what he was doing. “I can think of one without having to hear her confession: Pride. Our Abigail is too prideful to admit she is in the wrong and hurting a family that only wants to help her and accept her with open arms.”

“Yes…brother…” John’s voice weakened, realizing that there was no easy way out of this as he brought the needle up to the space where her pants met her stomach. “And…Lust…for using sex as a way to cope with her pain instead of asking for God’s light and love to heal her pain…”

Abigail started to scream in both frustration and pain as the brothers, John especially knowing her story, spent what felt like an entire day torturing her by carving more of her sins onto her skin. By the end of it, she was so tired and barely reacted to the pain, but refused to cry. She bore several new tattoos, the Wrath across her chest, the Lust on her across the bottom of her belly, the Pride on her back, and the Sloth on her inner forearm.

At first, she thought her pain was done, but Joseph didn’t seem content with letting her go just yet. “One more…” He spoke grimly, “Greed…for taking and taking without any end in sight. You took our lands, you took our people, and you took our sister!” As he listed the things he took, his voice became more and more enraged. “And yet…you still want to take more from us. Greed is your final sin…”

Abigail expected the needle to touch her skin again, not sure where it would land, but it didn’t come. Instead, she felt John’s hands going for her pants. She spotted a slight shake in his hand as he wrapped his fingers around the waistband of her borrowed sweatpants. “No…no…” She whispered softly in horror, the words barely audible as the pain in John’s eyes showed themselves a little more, but didn’t stop pulling her pants down. Thankfully, she was spared the embarrassment of an exposed sex, with a pair of panties concealing the one thing she desperately didn’t want seen. Nonetheless, she could feel the heat of gazes along her shapely legs. Jacob assumed the spot, moving her onto her side to hold her down by her shoulders with enough strength to almost pop her shoulder out of place. John once again used his weight to pin down her leg, the fight had died from her for now, the pain and exhausting becoming too much weight to fight under, but neither of them wanted to give her a chance to escape.

She felt the needle against her outer thigh, probably the least painful of the bunch, either because her body was becoming numb to the pain or the fact it was a meatier part of her body. Either way, she was thankful for the end to being the least painful, even if it left her practically naked to the gazes of the Seeds. Her pants were luckily still practically perfect so at least she couldn’t have to suffer for long with having something to at least conceal her legs. Her final tattoo was finished faster than she expected it to be, etching down the thickness of her outer thigh and finally as John shut off his tattoo gun, Joseph seemed content with the all her ugly red skin surrounding all her tattoos. He smirked at her and turned to walk slowly back towards the back of the church with his hands behind his back. John started putting away everything with a defeated look. Once John moved off of her, Jacob helped her sit up straight and on her rear, her body tense and burning, the skin around all her new tattoos getting tighter than she’s ever felt them before.

“You’re almost ready to join our family.” Joseph smiled warmly, as Jacob moved around behind her before realizing that he draped his US Army jacket around her shoulders to give her something to cover herself for the time being. Part of her was surprised by the act not only because it was Jacob who was the first to offer her some sort of twisted kindness, but it was something that was important to him. She didn’t think she ever saw Jacob without his Army jacket. At the same time, she didn’t care if it was rags that helped cover her; she just desperately needed something to cover her exposed and hurt body. She pulled the jacket over her chest and since Jacob was naturally a big guy compared to her, the jacket even managed to cover her thighs when she pulled her legs in closer to her body. It hurt to do so and her body burned from the slightest movements, but she’d rather be in pain then deal with her humiliation much longer. The sweetly stink of blood and sweat washed over her, but she couldn’t be picky when practically naked and surrounded by men who looked at her like they wanted to devour her.

She glared at Joseph, remaining silent, but wondering what the hell was going through his sick mind. Jacob caught her attention as he stepped around her, leaving her to join his brother near the back of the church. Joseph still had his back towards her and hands behind him, seemingly lost in his own world now, only brought back by Jacob’s approaching footsteps. “Brother…I know you want to have the sinner now, but perhaps I should spend a day or two with her.” Jacob started, making Abby wonder where the hell this was going.

That got a look from John, one that showed fire towards his older brother and Jacob seemed to expect it, meeting John’s gaze for a moment with a smug look on his face. She was witnessing something here, but wasn’t sure what it was exactly. “I should run at least one more trail on her. She did perfectly last time…” Jacob took a moment to look towards Abby with an interested look that gave her goose bumps. “Besides, it might make her less…argumentative towards you and your teachings…” He leaned towards Joseph’s ear, whispering something that neither John nor she could hear.

John huffed angrily, revealing to her how little he cared for Jacob. It reminded her of when they talked like normal people. She remembered him saying something along the lines of their older brother being a good man before he joined the military, but after everything, she felt little pity towards John now. Besides, John shouldn’t be a concern for her anymore. She was out of his hands now and before Jacob opened his mouth, she thought she was going to be handed off to the Father next, but now things might change again.

Jacob pulled away from Joseph’s ear, smiling confidently to himself as she heard Joseph made a audible sound like he was thinking before speaking, “Perhaps…you’re right Jacob…perhaps she does need another trail…very well. You may take her for a few days; help her recover from today’s atonement too. I want her ready to join our family very soon. The Voice told me the Collapse will happen very soon. I want our family to be complete again by then.”

“Of course, we’ll have a new sister soon and she’ll be our brightest Faith yet. Perhaps even the last one we’ll ever need.” Jacob smiled, giving her another more animalistic look as he made no secret what their family’s intentions were any longer.

The moment those words left Jacob’s mouth, Abby glared and bared her teeth at him. Joseph’s words came back to her, “Not only would you be our new Faith…you’d also be mine…” Chills ran down her spine as she remembered those words and the intense insane look on Joseph’s face. She only fully realized now the full seriousness of what he said. That crazed look in his eye made her wonder if he was even all there when he pinned her to John’s table, but with the look Jacob gave her, Abigail realized just how real this was. This wasn’t just the ramblings of a mad man. These people didn’t want just want to turn her into a cultist, they wanted to make her part of her fucked up family.

With Joseph’s approval, Jacob grinned towards her taking large and heavy steps towards her. John looked at his eldest brother with contempt, but said nothing as Jacob got down on one knee, putting his arm up on the other. He stared down into her eyes with a gleam of mischief in them as he opened his mouth, “When I’m done with you…” He brought his hand up to her and lifted her chin up, making her look up at him while she had little to no fight left in her for the moment, “You’ll finally see the light the Father can bring into your life…” He spoke softly, bringing his face closer to her’s to whisper, “And you’ll be begging for him to fill you with his love. For now though…” He pulled himself away, getting back up to his feet and taking a few steps back. She could see John standing by his older brother on one side as Joseph stood on the other side of him, all three of the Seeds staring down at her with a range of expressions as Jacob pulled a pistol from his side. He lifted it up and aimed at her before pulling the trigger. She gasped and more pain flooded her body from her shoulder with her vision quickly becoming blurry and her head becoming light as she heard Jacob’s voice distort to the point she thought she heard a demon speaking to her, “Just get some sleep.”


	17. The Second Trial

Abigail awoke to see a green sky, the sound of the world around her muffled as she felt her body floating, cold and wet. She could faintly see the leaves of the trees rustling and despite knowing exactly where she was, Abby felt so peaceful. She just breathed, feeling the cold river water surround her body, closing her eyes. Out of all the sounds in the world around her, all she could truly hear was the sound of her own breath as her lungs filled with air just before pushing it back out again to empty them. She saw a couple of blue butterflies dance in front of her eyes and she felt a desire to reach out and touch them. Abby lifted her arm out of the water, feeling the cold air against her wet skin towards the butterflies. When her fingers got close enough to them, the butterflies fluttered to land on her fingers, resting against her skin as a little smile crept onto her face.

That was until she looked and saw a white sleeve on her arm, just below her elbow. Her eyes squinted a little, feeling like she’s seen this fabric before when it suddenly hit her and she jerked out of the water, causing chaos in a peaceful world. She panted, feeling panic in her chest and her heart pounding. As soon as she got out of the water, Abby looked down her body to see the familiar white and pink flowered dress she always saw on Faith. She quickly got up on the river’s edge, quickly getting out of the water as she realized she was lying in the same waters Faith had died in. She tried to breathe, but her chest tightened so tight she couldn’t fill her lungs with enough air to properly breathe. When the river’s waters settled behind her, Abby turned to look at herself in the waters, opening her mouth to silently scream at the sight before her. What she saw was the splitting image of Faith, white dress and all. The only difference was the pink flower crown on her head that she somehow hadn’t felt until now. Blue butterflies started surrounding her and landing on her shoulders and in her hair. Panic took over as she froze at the sight before seeing a pair of hands grab her shoulders.

Two figures pulled themselves out from behind her, letting her see the faces of Faith and Burke on either side of her. Faith grinned wickedly at her reflection and Burke smiled in pure bliss at the reflection. Burke opened his mouth to whisper, “So beautiful” as Faith let out one of her girlish giggles. She reached up with another hand to pull a piece of Abby’s hair out of her face to tuck behind her ear, almost affectionately. “She’ll make my brothers so happy. She’ll complete the family and bring forth more. Truly a future worth dying for…” Abby felt tears forming in her eyes as they spoke at the same time as blue butterflies started swarming all three of them, Faith laying her head on Abby’s shoulder while Burke’s lips almost kissed her arm. “Join our family, be free, be loved, be accepted, have faith…and become Faith.”

______________________________________________

Abby gasped, feeling like the air had been forced out of her lungs, her heart pounding and her body shaking. However, despite feeling her eyes wide open, she saw nothing but darkness. She could feel a fabric pressing down on her eyelashes and down on her eyes, almost making it hard to keep them open. Her mouth was free, but the second she tried to move she realized her hands and feet were tied spread eagle. She could feel a bed underneath her, a tough bed, but a bed regardless. She tried to struggle, but she could barely move her body at all, her wrists and ankles tied so tightly she could barely move them. Her body burned in all her tattooed spots, but she didn’t care, she wanted to be freed. To further her horror that much more, she could feel her body was still practically naked, the jacket that once covered her gone and with only her panties giving her any cover. She could hear the sounds of a record player playing music that sounded old, but couldn’t figure out what the song was given the lyrics were hard to understand. She struggled and grunted, gritting her teeth as burning pain shot through her, but refused to stop fighting.

Suddenly, she could hear a door open with a pair of familiar heavy boots stepping inside just before shutting the door. Abby stopped struggling, focusing her hearing to see if she could figure out any signs of where she was or who was in the room with her. She could hear the sound of wood creaking underneath the heavy boots, but no other sounds as the boots only got louder. The moment they stopped, she could feel the heat of another body standing over her. There was nothing, but silence for a moment before she finally heard a voice. “Did you sleep well?” Jacob’s voice asked, sounding more mocking than concerned, “Have any lovely dreams about Faith?”

She would have glared at Jacob if he could have seen her do it. The Seeds knew something about her dreams, Joseph especially, but he had to of shared something about what he knew to his brothers. “What the hell do you know about my dreams?” She asked with aggression in her voice as she tried to fight against her restraints again.

Abigail could hear a deep and dark laugh as footsteps started up again, this time sounding like he was walking further away from her. “Don’t you get it yet? Those dreams you have are a result of prolonged exposure of the bliss, but they’re so much more too. Bliss opens your mind and shows you things. Faith was able to use it to her advantage to influence wayward souls to our cause, but you’re seeing things that you need to see. Things that God want you to see.” He explained as she could hear him digging through what sounded like a stash of records or something of the like. “Joseph can use bliss to visit you. I’m not sure myself how since Bliss was of Faith’s creation, but Joseph found out how to use it to the same level Faith could. He must have some interesting conversations with you there…” He chuckled darkly as she heard the record player stop. It…made sense enough. Abby didn’t understand how bliss worked really and it seemed like the only people who knew how it worked beyond basic understanding was Faith and Joseph. Only one of those two remained and she remembered all the times Joseph made himself appear to her both before Faith’s death and after. It made sense to think that Faith showed Joseph how it worked and how to use it to the level she managed to use it. She made a giant statue for the man, a statue that Abigail took pleasure in destroying, but a statue nonetheless. There was no telling what Faith was willing to do for him, showing him how to control the bliss or at least use it how she could seem like a good possibility and one that would make the most sense.

Her thoughts were snapped back to reality when she heard the familiar crackling of a record needle hitting the grove of a record. The song that started to play was one that sounded more familiar to her and one she immediately recognized with the first words sung. Nights in White Satin...never reaching the end. A song she once found soothing and romantic, but now found oddly sinister as she shared a room with Jacob with blindfolded eyes and tied up hands and feet. “Nice choice.” She tried to lighten the mood a little, mostly trying to ease her own growing restlessness.

“I try…” Jacob almost purred as she heard his footsteps returning to her, feeling the heat of his body nearing her own. Abby jumped a little as she felt a strong, callused hand touch her stomach and another little dark chuckle came from the man hovering over her. Goosebumps covered her arms as she felt his rough fingers running up her body, sliding in between her breasts without really touching them. His hand wondered up to her neck where he gently wrapped his fingers around her, putting a little bit of pressure down as he gently squeezed. With her eyes being useless, her nerves were that much more sensitive to his touch, her body tingling and squirming in ways that her almost remind her of John. “I can see why Joseph and John have such an interest in you…” Jacob spoke softly as his fingers tightened around her neck a little bit more, sending a tingle down her body that made her face turn a little red. “At first…I thought you were just a pretty face, but nothing much more, but you’re…so much more interesting than that.”

The little growl in Jacob’s voice as his fingers tightened around her throat just enough to cut off a little bit of her air and add a pressure around her sensitive neck that she shamefully loved made her face turn a even deeper shade of red. “The way you fight…and you keep getting back up no matter how hard we hit you…I like that. I like that a lot. You’re strong…I thought you were a rabbit trying to be a wolf, but I was wrong. You are a wolf…just as I am.” He spoke with interest. Without having to see him, she could hear the smile on his on his face as his fingers loosened from her throat and pulled off of her. She tried to focus on her breathing now that nothing restricted her, but her moment of recovery was short lived as she heard more sounds of shuffling from beside her. She gasped feeling him getting on the bed with her, feeling his knees between her own before hearing what sounded like a cap opening. “Let me help you with these burns…Joseph wants these as gone as they can be before he gets you back.” He explained before letting his hand touch her chest where the word, “Wrath” was tattooed into her skin. She gasped feeling the cooling ointment against her skin, soothing her burning pain, but making it flare up for a brief moment before it started to stop hurting as intensely. His fingers skillfully rubbed the ointment into her skin before letting his hand wonder down to her breast. Abby bit her lip feeling his strong hand ever so gently touching the swell of her breasts, almost touching her hardening nipples, but not letting himself have that pleasure just yet as his hand wondered down lower. The “Lust” just above her crotch was his next destination, making her blush that much more as her sex started to stir with his hand rubbing just above the most sensitive part of her body. She gasped as his hand run and rubbed her thigh next where “Greed” was, letting his hand squeeze her thick outer thigh a little harder than he probably should of, causing a little pained whine to leave her lips from the moment of intense burning she felt for a moment. She felt his body looming over her once he rubbed her thigh nice and thoroughly, letting his own crotch grind up against her barely covered sex as he rubbed more ointment on the “Sloth” on her arm, but she grit her teeth a little, knowing he was teasing her more than what was necessary. His hips pushing into her just enough for her to feel that he was getting stiff underneath his pants. Her cunt shamefully reacted naturally feeling the hint of what laid underneath the fabric of his pants. She could feel his strong, toned stomach grazing her with every little buck of his hips along with the heat of his gaze staring down on her face to watch her every little reaction to him and with the music going on while this happened, it almost made the moment into something romantic if it wasn’t for the fact it was Jacob Seed who loomed over her.

Luckily for her, once he was satisfied with rubbing her in all her exposed places, he pulled away and she could hear the cap snapping back in place. She thought he’d get off of her, but she heard the sound of the ointment bottle hitting the ground and he hadn’t move from between her legs. He instead leaned over her again, placing a hand down back her hand as she noticed his other hand was nowhere near her head, sounding like he was grabbing something off of his person before he spoke up. “The one on your back will have to wait for now. Right now…I want to do something else…I’d be still if I were you…” He practically whispered and at first, Abigail didn’t know what he intended to do until she almost jumped feeling a cold steel blade touch collarbone. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she tensed up from the blade touching her skin. Jacob chuckled at her reaction as he guided the blade down her body, letting it graze against her swollen breast before letting it run down her stomach. The lower the blade went, the more sensitive to it her body became. “I can finally see why you tempt my brothers to sin so much…” He spoke softly, her bare skin feeling his warm breath against it. “You even have the power to tempt the Father himself…that’s something I never thought I would see. If you have that kind of power…how is a sinful dog like me going to resist your temptations…” He spoke with lust dripping in his voice, his blade getting closer and closer to the one place she didn’t want it to be.

With a skillful hand, Jacob let the blade graze her thigh before hooking the tip of his blade underneath the piece of fabric between her thigh and crotch. She could hear a little growl in his voice as he uttered, “I want to cut these off so badly, but…you’re not mine to have…just to enjoy.” Instead of cutting her underwear off, he used the blade to start pulling them down. Abby squirmed a little against her restraints, not wanting him to see how her body was shamefully reacting to all this while she heard the soothing, romantic music in the air. “Careful…I don’t want to hurt you more than I need to…Joseph wouldn’t like that.” He warned, causing her to whine despite how useless it was to try to fight him with how tight her hands and feet were tied.

“There it is…” He purred, letting her hear the grin on his face as he pulled her panties down enough to let him see her sex as he pulled the knife free from her panties. She could hear the sound of a knife snapping shut as he shifted a bit, what she assumed to be put the knife away, much to her relief. “Mmmm…” He hummed softly, letting his other hand gently touch her labia, but barely putting any pressure. “What’s this?” He teased, pushing his fingers a little bit inside of her, revealing how her body reacted to all his teasing. “Even with all that atonement…you little sinner…” He chuckled with lust in his voice, “But I suppose I’m not much better…here, let me let you feel what I mean…”

Abigail tried to fight her restraints, she didn’t want to make this easy, she didn’t want her body to react the way that it was, but something about the music in the air, the lust in his voice, the way he touched her, and used his knife to explore her body, it was all too much and her body betrayed her. It was like John all over again. What was it about these damn Seeds that made her so weak? Did she need sex THAT badly?

“She’ll make my brothers so happy…” Those words ringed out in her head again as she remembered the almost smug smile on Faith’s face, starting to fear the implications her dreams might have been making, especially if what Jacob told her was true.

The sound of a belt jingling brought her back from her thoughts as chills ran down her spine from the lewd implications of the sound itself. It was slow, taking longer than necessary because he wanted to tease her with sound alone. Abby would give him this; Jacob was a master of using sound for torture or manipulation. He used songs as triggers after playing mind games with you. Just that little box of his made her go into a wrathful killing spree just from the song it played and his little presentation. He wanted to torture her in a moment where she was weak to him. Her body betrayed her and her mind started to grow obedient to him. The lack of sleep…the pain her body felt…the endless emotional torment…it made it difficult to keep fighting. She had to, Abby couldn’t let them win, but much like with John…part of her wanted to give up and indulge in a sin she missed from her younger years. It was getting harder and harder to fight them, but she refused to bow to any of them. However…that didn’t mean she couldn’t let go and enjoy the little bit of pleasure she did manage to get, even if it was with the people she hated. The fact she couldn’t see him made it something more bearable. She could imagine anyone she wanted doing these things to her…

Abigail hated that as soon as that thought entered her mind she thought of John. Of all fucking people to be thinking of in this moment, he was one of the last. Any good things she might have felt for him disappeared the second he ratted her out to Joseph. It wasn’t a surprise that he did, but…she somehow expected something different from him and that was her mistake.

She could hear the sound of a button being undone and quickly after a zipper being pulled down. Abby let out a little breath, her hands digging into her restraints as she waited for more. Without being one to disappoint, Jacob let her feel him on her thigh. She jumped a little the second she felt his cock against her causing him to chuckle as he teased her with it. “Don’t be scared…” He teased, hearing that grin in his voice again.

Abby let out a heated breath feeling it against her soft lower lips, teasing them by grinding his length up against them, but not pushing it inside like she wished he would. His hands grabbed her thighs, despite not needing to hold them apart; he dug his dull nails into her flesh. She could hear his own heated breath as she could hear the faintest sound of a little whispered swear on his breath. She gasped feeling the head of his cock push past her folds and tease her clit, letting it feel how hot and wet she was while teasing the most sensitive part of her whole body. “Ahhhh…” She moaned softly, her burning back arching, her nails digging into the restraints that much more. Her hips grinded against him, seemingly trying to force him inside of her making him groan at the sight and feeling of her rubbing herself against the head of his cock. “Such a little sinner…” He groaned, letting his hand let go of her thigh to run down her flat stomach. “I see why John took such a liking to you after spending a night with you…Joseph might have more competition than he thought…”

With that, Jacob pulled his hips back and pushed himself inside of her, causing both of them to moan at the same time as she felt the head of his cock stretch her around his girth. He was bigger than John, but not by much. She felt two of the three Seed brothers and so far both of them had a lot to work with. Part of her wondered if Jose…no, not him. John and Jacob were bad enough; she couldn’t let herself think of Joseph this way. He was the one she couldn’t let herself let herself melt under.

She could hear Jacob’s breath shaking as he slowly pushed more of himself inside of her, “Fffa…” He moaned feeding more and more of himself into her until the point he had to let go of her body to hold himself up on either side of her, looming more over her as she felt more of his weight shifting over her. She gasped and moaned feeling him filling her and feeling his hot breath on her skin as she could feel his face getting closer to her neck. She could feel his rough beard against the crook of her neck as he panted near her ear. He wasted no time pulling his hips back and pushing himself back into her as soon as he adjusted properly over her. With the blindfold over her eyes, Abby could feel every detail of him as his cock pushed in and out of her, slow and deep at first, but slowly picking up speed as their bodies got use to each other. She moaned feeling him driving himself deeper and harder into her as he started to growl like a wild animal near her ear. The sound of the music playing over the wet sounds of their hips meeting only made their sounds that much more lewd as her body gave in to its need that Jacob was more than willing to give her.

A hot and loud moan shot from her mouth the moment Jacob buried his face into her neck just to bite her skin, leaving his own mark on her that joined the ones John left behind on her. He growled into her skin, his hips picking up speed and forcing himself to drive harder and deeper into her core. Abby couldn’t stop the moans flooding out of her mouth as his cock hit her in all the right places, her needy cunt squeezing him and pulling him into her every thrust into her. She could feel him throbbing inside of her, needing her just as badly as she needed him. Her hands pulled at her restraints wanting to dig into his skin, but the knots were too well done, her body tightened around him, making her groan into her skin. This was raw, primal, he was a rutting dog and she was his bitch. His nails held her hips in place, his teeth biting harder into her neck, as he lifted her hips up into the air to fuck her with all that he had. Her moans of pleasure only got louder as the bed underneath them creaked and shook for the raw power of Jacob’s cock fucking her. Her core tightened as she cried out in pleasure, feeling her climax approaching as the song was reaching its climax and the music started to swell. She found herself moaning his name and it only made him fuck her even harder, panting and groaning near her ear as he let go of her neck to breath, feeling him reaching his end too. “Fuck! Fuck! Ahhhh”, she cried out, her cunt gripping him even tighter as his hips started to become sloppier in his thrusts. And just as the song came to its climax, Jacob pushed himself as deep into her as he could, panting and moaning with her as her cunt gripped him like a vice. Abby let out a little high pitched moan feeling herself cumming on his cock just as she felt his hot, thick seed rush into her and filling her much like his brother did a few days ago. Her legs shook as they tensed up, letting their bodies cum together with heated breaths and shaky moans.

Jacob laid down on her, panting with heated breath. He nuzzled into her neck, kissing her skin as his strong legs kept him pushing into her. “Fuck…” He moaned into her ear, “I haven’t came this much in years…then again…I hadn’t had this kind of sin in years either…” He chuckled near her ear before letting his thick tongue lick her neck, tasting her like he wanted to eat her then and there. “Mmmm…Joseph’s going to love you when he gets you back…” He moaned, letting his hips gently fuck her a little bit more like he was reluctant to stop this pleasure they felt, but he eventually found the strength to sit up and slowly pull himself out of her with a wet pop. Abby let out a little moan feeling him pull free from her as cum started to leak out of her and onto the bed he tied her to.

She could hear the sound of him adjusting his pants and cleaning himself up to look more presentable as he went over to the record player and pulled the needle off of the record that finished playing the song that was on it. “You did well…very well…” He spoke, still panting softly as he walked around the room. She heard him coming to her again, and felt his hands go for the blindfold, turning her head enough to undo the knot that kept her blinded. The second she could see again, Abby blinked her eyes as light from a window shone into an otherwise dark and dingy room. She saw Jacob with a pleased smile as he leaned close and whispered, “I’ll get you cleaned up and a change of clothes. None of our followers need to have any temptations now do we?” He chuckled causing her to glare at him, but her glare only seemed to make him smile more. “I’ll give you a day or two to rest…I have one more test I want to run…than we’ll see if you’re ready for Joseph…”


	18. Final Update (Bad News, Good News)

Hey everyone, I'm sorry this isn't a chapter update, but I felt the need to let everyone know that I, unfortunately, can't finish this fic. While I was off, I ended up writing 7 chapters ahead of time so that I could update more constantly. However, my fiancee accidentally broke my USB that had all of it on it. It was my fault for not properly putting it up and it was a accident. It devastated me and I stepped away from this fic I was so determined to write for a long time. However, now that life is looking up (as much as it can for 2020), I'm feeling inspiration to start writing again. So, bad news is, this fic is probably going to be remained unfinished, BUT I also have some good news. I mentioned before I wasn't totally happy with how this was coming out because it was nothing like how I envisioned and it always left me a bit unsatisfied. It felt like my ideas weren't actually making it out of my head and as I kept writing the chapters I haven't posted, I realized I was getting so dark that I wasn't sure if I was even comfortable posting it anymore.

I was including themes that I was scared would upset people that I've brought in because I didn't plan for these things to happen, but they just did. There's one event especially that works for this fic, but I wasn't sure if I was okay with since I felt horrible for writing it. I didn't plan for Jacob to be sexual either, I envisioned him as someone who was asexual. Someone who admires Dep, but doesn't actively have full on penetrating sex with her, so I became unhappy with how I ended up writing him for the sake of smut. I guess I felt unhappy about shoving unnecessary smut for a fic that's more focused on story than smut. It's a lot of things like that that started to bug me and I just stopped having fun writing it anymore. 

So, I'm taking this chance to rewrite this plot line, but adding new plot elements and ideas that I think will make it, not only easier to write, but more fun as well. I will be basing the story more on the music that inspired me to write this in the first place, because it was my main motivation and main reason I'm unsatisfied with this. I won't be deleting this fic, but I won't be rewriting it here either. The changes I'm making are big, but better, so I think it deserves it own separate thing. It might be some time before I get it out because I want to be well into it before I start posting so I don't get worried about making you guys wait so much. Also I'll be using google docs for now on so that I don't have my chapters accidentally destroyed. If there's enough interest for it, I'll make on more chapter that would explain what would of happened in this fic from the point I left off, until the ending I had planned, because everything I had planned for this isn't going to be making it into the new version.

Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this fic, ya'll were the people that kept me going. I'm upset that I won't be finishing this after being so determined to, but things happen. I'm also looking forward to this new version I'm hoping ya'll will love too, if not more so then you loved this one. Keep an eye out for it and I hope to see all you beautiful people there! Again, I'm sorry for those I disappointed or upset, but I'm hoping this new version will work out and be something even better! I love you lovelies! Be safe, wear your damn masks, and try to make this best out of this shitstorm of a year!

Edit: Just to clarify to anyone who might of misunderstood what I mean about making Jacob ace (my fault), I intend to make him ace, but no aromantic. He will still be capable of feeling love and affection in a romantic way, but just isn't one to be sexual often. If anything he'll be more gray ace, someone who feels some sexual attraction, but not nearly to the same strength or as commonly as others, and potentially biromantic. Either way, I'll be constantly talking to my best friend who is gray ace and panromantic to make sure I don't misrepresent the community because I am not ace, but I want to properly give that representation with a character I genuinely be that. Either way, Jacob will be involved sexually in small ways and not as often as the others and will be able to catch feelings for Dep. 


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